How Are Your Economic Theories Affected by the Way You Grew Up?

And did the post-WWII prosperity that lasted into the 1970s rely very heavily on the narrowness of women’s roles? (My conclusive answer: Yes, and no.)

Jim Manzi begins to identify with some elements in Paul Krugman’s nostalgia for the blessings of suburbia; Megan McArdle reminds us that the subjection of women underlay a lot of the good times.

I’d point out that the freedom enjoyed by kids before all their time was overly structured may have had to do with the fact that they were considered human beings in the fifties, sixties, and seventies, rather than fragile glass figurines that had to be packed in polystyrene peanuts. Or, alternately, as blank slates upon which Important Things Had To Be Written by Designated Culture-Transmitters right away, before it was too late!

Here’s Megan, who begins by quoting Manzi............