tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1331441403058020963.post4111187031456505831..comments2024-03-28T06:49:24.930-04:00Comments on International Political Economy at the University of North Carolina: Sunday LinksThomas Oatleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14092437150746625670noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1331441403058020963.post-77829089644119746362010-01-26T06:55:25.835-05:002010-01-26T06:55:25.835-05:00Hello Dr. Oatley,
If you read the paper I've ...Hello Dr. Oatley,<br /><br />If you read the paper I've linked to above, Milanovic doesn't conclude that Concept 3 is inferior to Concept 2. What he does say are that (a) Sala-i-Martin's version of Concept 3 is nearly indistiguishable from everyone else's Concept 2 and (b) Sala-i-Martin is the most optimistic outlier when generating Concept 3 measurements.<br /><br />These criticisms still hold. See Milanovic's recent <a href="http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTDECINEQ/Resources/Global_Inequality_Recalculated.pdf" rel="nofollow">take</a> on inequality using the 2005 PPPs and compare it to Sala-i-Martin's. <br /><br />Milanovic commands respect from both authors of the left and the right while Sala-i-Martin tends to attract criticism from the former. See our own <a href="http://ucatlas.ucsc.edu/income/debate.html" rel="nofollow">Robert Wade</a> or Pogge and Reddy also at Columbia. If Milanovic is as close to plain vanilla among economists studying poverty and inequality, Sala-i-Martin is regarded as...chocolate fudge! As always, caveat emptor.Emmanuelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04615366847433704476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1331441403058020963.post-32441215291127606752010-01-25T22:10:35.598-05:002010-01-25T22:10:35.598-05:00Everyone makes assumptions, Emmanuel. Milanovic, f...Everyone makes assumptions, Emmanuel. Milanovic, for example, assumes that concepts 1 and 2 are better approximations of true inequality that concept 3 because concept 3 has measurement error. Yet, concepts 1 and 2 are just imperfect measures of what we really care about, which is concept 3. Thus, why is his measurement error less worrisome to you?<br /><br />I'm not sure why you believe Brankovic is definitive. Have you read <br />Firebaugh, Glenn. 2003. The New Geography of Income Inequality. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Thomas Oatleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14092437150746625670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1331441403058020963.post-79776796794036576932010-01-25T21:49:21.070-05:002010-01-25T21:49:21.070-05:00Sala-i-Martin makes assumptions others believe req...Sala-i-Martin makes assumptions others believe require too much of a leap of faith. <br /><br />As for reductions in inequality in the general literature, <a href="http://ipezone.blogspot.com/2007/03/is-income-inequality-rising-or-falling.html" rel="nofollow">it depends how you measure it</a>.Emmanuelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04615366847433704476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1331441403058020963.post-24995413126294405452010-01-25T21:41:24.027-05:002010-01-25T21:41:24.027-05:00Thanks for the tip to the Milanovic article. The l...Thanks for the tip to the Milanovic article. The link to the paper was broken (and I don't have time to read it right now anyway), but it seems to be saying that there is a high probability of measurement error at work. But if so, would that be unique to Sala-i-Martin's analysis? Won't the same problems plague other studies as well? The downsides of Gini and similar measures are also well-known.<br /><br />I'm not saying that Solow's growth model is exactly right, but is it really so controversial to suggest that there has been *some* convergence since 1970? If not, then inequality will have declined.<br /><br />So maybe it would be best to conclude that global inequality has declined, just not as much as the cheerleaders claim?Kindred Winecoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14330671232391851377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1331441403058020963.post-23803201790242269922010-01-25T21:05:48.866-05:002010-01-25T21:05:48.866-05:00Young Kindred, the reason why Sala-i-Martin's ...Young Kindred, the reason why Sala-i-Martin's inequality statistics don't get more attention is because his stuff is <a href="http://www.networkideas.org/feathm/sep2002/ft12_Ricardian_Vice.htm" rel="nofollow">methodologically suspect</a> and far more optimistic than everyone else's. <br /><br />Among others, Branko Milanovic, author of the definitive book on the topic, should get to this latest Sala-i-Martin-ism in due course. For now, take it with a grain of salt like everyone else does (except for the cheerleaders).<br /><br />Emmanuel, Wizened IPE Buzzard Against Rah-RahEmmanuelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04615366847433704476noreply@blogger.com