Bad News, Good News

Yesterday, I was supposed to be on Street Signs with Erin Burnett to talk about the effect of the Iraq war on the state of the economy.  Sadly, they canceled me at the last minute.  Bummer.  Then when I got home, there it was, waiting, mocking, the Tivo recording of "my show."  I felt bad but… I had to watch.

Heh, they got Joe Stiglitz to replace me!  Well, anything less than a Nobel prize and I would have been insulted but I feel much better now!  Amusingly, Stiglitz and I are good substitutes on this issue.  In case you are wondering, we both think that at the present time the net effect of the Iraq war is (modestly) contractionary rather than stimulative due to higher oil prices, higher interest rates and less wealth.