Not only do I look down on thinkers who won’t bet; I also look down on thinkers who won’t debate.  The flip side is that I particularly admire thinkers who propose bets and debates.  I’m pleased to report, then, that economist David Balan emailed me out of the blue to set up a debate at GMU for spring, 2010.

If David’s name doesn’t ring a bell, he’s a DC-based economist.  You can read his papers here.  You may remember him from the Balan-Hanson paternalism debate (see here and here).

What should we debate about?  In the past, Balan strongly disagreed with my view that American partisan differences are mostly rhetorical.  (It’s no secret that he likes Obama and thinks Democrats are much better than Republicans).  So I thought we could debate about that.  But the topic’s still up in the air, and we’re taking suggestions.  Anyone?