Reformism Revisited

I’m pleasantly surprised at the discussion that has arisen around Freddie’s broadside against reform-minded conservatives, the panel discussion at Princeton the other day, and my analyses thereof.

I just wanted to highlight some of the responses thereto that I think are well-worth your time.

Rod Dreher does an excellent job summarizing my points, and then goes on to put together a thoughtful and dispassionate rebuttal to Freddie.

This comment by Bill Golden (summarized here and posted on his own site here) earned the praise of the League’s resident crazy uncle Bob Cheeks, resident jester Jaybird, me, and Jay Daniels (who strongly disagreed with my posts).  That makes it an important contribution to the discussion, I think.  It should also set the hearts of Front Porch Republicans everywhere all aflutter.

Although Will already linked it, Timothy Lee’s somewhat different take on the panel discussion argues that Postrel’s dynamism in fact does point the way forward for conservatism. 

This exchange, between my lefty nemesis Michael Drew, my righty nemesis Mike of the Big Stick, and me, explains that even if the GOP is years away from being able to govern competently on a national level, it can still do a passable job in Congress if it were to take control thereof.

Finally, since she spent a minute or two on it at the panel discussion, Postrel’s excerpts of a Luigi Zingales paper (as well as the paper itself) may be worth checking out as well.

UPDATE: Also, David Frum’s summary of the discussion adds some important context to Postrel’s lightbulb allegory.

UPDATE II: Julian Sanchez weighs in on Freddie’s rant in a particularly enjoyable and clarifying read.