Nostalgianomics

I am a great fan of Brink Lindsey's work (I had previously blogged on his recent book, which is discussed in a new podcast), but I had not seen his essay, Nostalgianomics.

Lindsey has, in my view, a much better understanding of recent economic and cultural history than those he takes on (Paul Krugman and soul mates). Nostalgia is a human weakness, but the 1950s? Think Joe McCarthy. Think polio. Think Jim Crow. For starters.

Depicting changing inequality by comparing distribution snapshots is disingenuous. But would those in the lowest decile today prefer to be in the lowest decile of 50-60years ago? Never mind. Listen to or read Lindsey.