I had been considering posting something contrarian and cynical about the radical Republican strategy during the recent appropriation and debt standoff. But I now see that Tyler Cowen has published a post by “Tyrone,” his “evil twin brother,” that makes a provocative claim:
I read what a strategic disaster the fracas has been for the Republican Party and for the Tea Party movement in particular, but I don’t see it. Where I grew up, this counts as a successful stare-down. Most of the time, the pit bull does not in fact lunge for your throat, but it is hardly a mistake for him to snarl, even if that raises his borrowing rates.
Look where we stand. In real terms government spending has been falling. Sequestration appears to be permanent, or it will be negotiated away by Republicans in return for preferred changes in tax and spending policy. Leading Democratic intellectuals are talking about future fiscal bargains with no new taxes. The American public polls as increasingly conservative.
With this sequence of events, combined with 2011, the Republicans convinced some of their opponents that they are crazy and irresponsible, without actually being crazy (though they were irresponsible, but that is the whole point).
I’m not sure if I agree with this, and if it is true I am not sure whether it is actually a good thing for the country, but it’s worth reading the whole post. By the way, I think that “Tyrone” should have his own blog — or at least a Twitter account.