Why Noah Smith is way smarter than me (or is it I?)

After being criticized by Noah Smith, I foolishly got all defensive.  Meanwhile Noah was laughing all the way to the bank.  Here’s commenter anon/portly:

Think for a second, what is hippie-punching, anyway?  It’s a “stratagem” where you gratuitously attack X to ingratiate yourself with Y, having (in your own mind, at least) caused yourself problems with Y by having displayed the incorrect attitude toward X.

Then consider, what is Noah Smith really up to?  He doesn’t have any examples of SS’s hippie-punching, which could be due either to his lack of knowledge, or his lack of interest, in SS’s views.  Either way it’s hard not to see his real intent here as doing some “Sumner-punching,” i.e. this comment of his was merely a stratagem designed to ingratiate himself with certain readers or fellow bloggers who understand that SS is a Bad Guy and who might be suspicious of NS for some of his past comments where his attitude toward SS (and maybe others, like Tyler Cowen) has not been entirely appropriate.

I believe they call this “irony.”  Whatever it is, it’s as beautiful as any sunset.  Noah Smith is not just a “good guy,” he’s the highest possible expression of academic genius.

Yup.  Krugman did call him a “good guy,” but also warned him not to stray off the reservation.  Smith responded with some “SS-punching” to show he’s loyal to the liberal tribe.

PS.  Even in my initials I’m stuck with a sinister far-right connotation.  Or perhaps the sound of a snake.  Another reason to envy Noah.


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19 Responses to “Why Noah Smith is way smarter than me (or is it I?)”

  1. Gravatar of Jonathan Cast Jonathan Cast
    18. July 2013 at 14:30

    At some point, you’re going to realize how much projection the left engages in, and a little light is going to go off in your head.

  2. Gravatar of Bill Ellis Bill Ellis
    18. July 2013 at 15:04

    Scott,
    I dunno, I think you are kinda pugilistic. (It is one of the things that makes reading you fun.) So I feel you do do some Hippie punching, and a lot of your readership loves it. And you know it. But I don’t think that is your main motive.

    But to be fair…you will take a rhetorical swing at anyone not just Hippies. Goldbugs, Ayn Randies, Dems , Repubs…whoever…the gauntlet will be picked up.

    Keep swinging.

  3. Gravatar of Catherine Catherine
    18. July 2013 at 15:39

    “Smarter than I am”
    “Smarter than I”
    Put the missing word back in. That’s the test.
    You wouldn’t say “Smarter than me am.”
    (I had to answer!)

  4. Gravatar of Justin Irving Justin Irving
    18. July 2013 at 16:39

    Who is Smith and what is his shtick? I forget or never knew, so many econ bloggers.

  5. Gravatar of Scott Sumner Scott Sumner
    18. July 2013 at 17:01

    Thanks Bill.

    Catherine, For some reason I’ve always had poor grammar. Noah once nailed me for using “I” where “me” was needed. My brain is wired for concepts and visual images, not language.

  6. Gravatar of Noah Smith Noah Smith
    18. July 2013 at 19:29

    Buahahahahaha…

  7. Gravatar of Saturos Saturos
    18. July 2013 at 20:53

    I feel like an enabler now. I kinda knew you’d get riled up, too… I was really more interested in whether there was some truth in whether you’d relatively failed to reach conservatives, anyway.

  8. Gravatar of libertaer libertaer
    18. July 2013 at 23:00

    “Even in my initials I’m stuck with a sinister far-right connotation. Or perhaps the sound of a snake. Another reason to envy Noah.”

    As a German I can assure you that NS (National Socialism) sounds just slightly better than SS.

  9. Gravatar of Scott H. Scott H.
    19. July 2013 at 00:47

    A conservative who supports MM just checking in.

  10. Gravatar of Eric Rodriguez Eric Rodriguez
    19. July 2013 at 02:28

    To me SS means “Social Security”, only on second thought do I think of “those other guys”. By the way, as far as economics are concerned “those guys” are far right but far left. Nationalization vs socialization and all that.

  11. Gravatar of Benjamin Cole Benjamin Cole
    19. July 2013 at 03:50

    Side note to Scott Sumner, the hippie-puncher who also sets up right-wing strawmen to knock over:

    I had a thought while rolling around in bed, alas only with the flu.

    Mild inflation results in conservative real estate underwriting.

    Why? And why is this good?

    1. Lenders cannot rely on inflation, So, when they extend a loan, it is on the current assessed value, 80 percent LTV, for example. So, if real estate values increase by 4 percent a year, in a quick three years lenders are exposed only at 70 percent LTV.

    2. Why is that good? It results in much lower default rates, and banks that remain willing to extend loans. Even crummy estate loans are eventually bailed out by rising nominal property values.

    I have not heard this pro-inflation argument made elsewhere. But then fans of mild inflation must be careful. We might be taken for hippies. Which I was in my youth. Or at least a hippie wanna-be. Like Sumner, i am just a few years too young to have been a true hippie. And beatniks were long past. No one even bothers to punch beatniks anymore.

  12. Gravatar of Catherine Catherine
    19. July 2013 at 05:04

    Your grammar is perfectly fine! Except for that I/me business, which is an issue only in written English these days… (intentional sentence fragment!)

    Your only recurring problem is comma splices (commas used to splice two sentences together without a conjunction such as ‘and’ or ‘but.’) But that’s punctuation, not grammar.

    You should probably just start asking yourself, every time you type a comma, “Would a period work here?”

    If it would, then use something else to join the sentences: a semicolon, a colon, or a ‘FANBOYS.’

    I posted the 8 basic sentence punctuation patterns (which I myself learned from a Pasadena City College handout!) for my students — & I’ve checked with a linguist friend, who confirmed that these 8 patterns cover the territory:

    http://english109mercy.wordpress.com/the-8-basic-sentence-punctuation-patterns/

  13. Gravatar of Catherine Catherine
    19. July 2013 at 05:04

    Btw, I have never seen you engage in hippie bashing. It would be very out of character.

  14. Gravatar of ssumner ssumner
    19. July 2013 at 05:08

    Catherine, Early in my career a commenter on one of my papers said “if the author had used no commas at all, his use of commas would have been more nearly correct.”

    That got me to cut back, but apparently not enough.

  15. Gravatar of Patrick R. Sullivan Patrick R. Sullivan
    19. July 2013 at 05:13

    ‘Mild inflation results in conservative real estate underwriting.’

    Except when a Boston College academic publishes a paper with the Boston Fed claiming that conservative underwriting is racist. ‘Housing activists’ call it ‘redlining’ and gin up mobs to intimidate lenders, Congress passes legislation requiring the GSEs to buy weak mortgage loands, HUD Mau Maus Countrywide Financial and other non-bank lenders into also making loans with low and no down payments….

  16. Gravatar of Catherine Catherine
    19. July 2013 at 05:48

    Catherine, Early in my career a commenter on one of my papers said “if the author had used no commas at all, his use of commas would have been more nearly correct.”

    Oh my god, I am laughing!

    That is a keeper.

    My students are going to love this!

  17. Gravatar of Bill Ellis Bill Ellis
    19. July 2013 at 08:39

    Benjamin Cole says…

    “Mild inflation results in conservative real estate underwriting.”

    I think that is a brilliant insight. And it makes me wonder if there is a principle hiding in it that could be applied in a broader way to lending, banking or more.

  18. Gravatar of J.V. Dubois J.V. Dubois
    19. July 2013 at 11:38

    Heh, just noticed the post scriptum. I always thought that SS stands for “super smooth” now I know better 😀

  19. Gravatar of Geoff Geoff
    19. July 2013 at 14:24

    “Krugman did call him a “good guy,” but also warned him not to stray off the reservation. Smith responded with some “SS-punching” to show he’s loyal to the liberal tribe.”

    Please, someone explain to me how in the bloody hell this can come even remotely close to constituting “academic genius”?

    To me, this is nothing but irrational tribalism, the exact opposite of real intelligence.

    As soon as I see someone kowtow to some sort of collectivistic ideology, elicited through a cult of personality, protect the queen bee type approach, I immediately know they are not true intellectuals.

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