On predicatability

I use Google Reader to help me keep track of the econ blogs I am interested in. Over the time I've noticed that I actually read only five of them, for the rest I just skim them. Of those five blogs, I follow Econbrowser and Calculated Risk for their sound technical analysis. And I am drawn to the remaining three for their distinct take on social and economic issues: Mark Thoma of Economist View is surely on the left who is a constant linker to Paul Krugmen's articles, and Greg Mankiw is not shy of his Republic agenda. Tyler Cowen, the main guy behind Marginal Revolution, is my favorite and has the most influence on me. He is from the bastion of libertarianism, George Mason University. And I think he is labeled as a libertarian in the blog sphere, which would put him roughly at the right of the center.

But unlike Mark or Greg, Tyler is much harder to pin down on a specific issue: he is not that predictable on a given issue. There could be a few reasons: maybe he is just a natural(trained?) contrarian, maybe he does not have much ideological rigidities, or maybe he is just more curious and open-minded than others. In any event, I find him more interesting to read, more colorful, and often more insightful.