Doesn’t Victor Davis Hanson have a PhD?
Victor Davis Hanson has become the lettered darling of the MAGA crowd. Although I agree with some of his musings, I am not a Victor Davis Hanson fan. I find much of his commentary to be in the MAGA-apologist camp with an air of snobbish superiority. Hanson recently had a curious and rather puzzling article in Politico where he ridiculed those degreed experts – those pundits with PhDs. He ridiculed economists’ critique of Trump’s tariffs. He then, for good measure, added immigration experts, national security experts, the Middle East, NATO, Hunter Biden’s laptop, global warming, the Steele dossier and university bias. Seriously, all that is in one article. The part about economist was sheer sophistry. I was going to challenge Hanson’s analysis but my longtime friend Don Boudreaux beat me to it. Here are the links to Hanson’s article and Don’s rejoinder. I subscribe to Don’s blog, Café Hayek, and I recommend that you consider subscribing too.
Victor Davis Hanson, The Decline and Fall of Our So-Called Degreed Experts
And Don Boudreaux’s rejoinder
“Victor Davis Hanson Continues to Write Foolishly About Economics”
Yes, Victor Davis Hanson criticizes the degreed experts. Yet he has a PhD from Stanford in Classics, which of course makes him an expert on economics, political science, national security, the environment and everything else. I acknowledge that the same criticism can be leveled against me. But I gladly admit that I tend to apply microeconomics, supply and demand, and present value theory to almost everything (the hammer and nail). I have a close friend who accuses me of doing that but I tell him to “prove me wrong and I will adopt your opinion”. That does not appear to be Dr Hanson’s philosophy.
But reading Hanson’s MAGA apology pieces I am reminded of a conversation I had with my father. Dad was insisting on some point in economics and I told him he was wrong. He insisted otherwise. I said “Dad you would not argue over how Charles (my brother) does his job.” Dad said “He is a pilot and I don’t know anything about flying an airplane.” And I said “Well in this instance you don’t know economics either.”
haroldblackphd.com 
After reading your essay, the link to Hansen and Boudreaux’s rejoinder, I find sympathy with your dear old dad. He can imagine the complexities of a plane, but the tangle of Econ is a lot to take on, harder on the imagination…
Here’s what most of us know about Econ: Trump wants to control Powell; Bill Pulte was recruited to call for Powell eradication, based on— interior decorating? As in the Fed Reserve building renovation. There’s a Fed Reserve Building?..
You are right: flying a plane and flying the economy, for me, involves some citizen trust in confidence & integrity .
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