22 Oct 2010

A Note on Strategy: Or, Let’s Not Fumble The Ball, Kids

Economics 3 Comments

As some big-ticket pledges roll in, I should stress something: The reason I so unabashedly praised Mr. Krolman’s donation, is that an independent person whom I trust contacted me and said he knew Krolman, and that it was a serious pledge.

So of course, if you really want to put up $5k etc., then obviously I welcome you with open arms. But I want to make sure everyone thinks this thing through.

An obvious thing that Krugman and his fans will say is this, “Of course we would blow up you idiot Austrians if this were real. But c’mon, that $100k figure is driven by 50 people who each pledged more than $1,000. If Krugman decided to go through with it, those liars would cancel their pledges at the last minute, after Krugman was on the plane.”

Now I was talking with Tom Woods on the phone about various strategic points; what would we do if Krugman says X, etc. We came up with a very good way to deal with the above situation. (I’m not elaborating because I don’t want to tip off Krugman’s fans to our responses.)

But let me stress, the one way we can end up looking like jerks in this–and Krugman can forever refuse to debate me–is if it turns out that a bunch of the pledges aren’t serious.

So please, if you have put in a big number, because you figured you could pull out at the last minute if Krugman actually went through with it and you wouldn’t actually have to pay, then I urge you to change it to a figure you are seriously willing to pay.

But, for those making big pledges, if you are serious about them, then thank you and let’s keep up the intensity.

3 Responses to “A Note on Strategy: Or, Let’s Not Fumble The Ball, Kids”

  1. zee says:
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    From what I understand, you can’t cancel pledges on the website, or am I mistaken? If you can’t cancel pledges, then the figure you have is real and people won’t be backing out at the last minute. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s my understanding, as they take your credit card number

    • Nico says:
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      You can cancel your pledge. I had to do it, unfortunately; The Point won’t accept payments from my country.

  2. zee says:
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    Also, should the debate be longer than 1 hour? i think the topics to discuss would take much longer than that, and if mr. krugman would be going all the way down to alabama, then i think it wouldn’t matter if the debate was one hour or five hours. just a possible suggestion.