Scott Sumner has repeatedly attacked Bernanke for his failure to base his monetary policy on his monetary economics.  But yesterday he argued that leaders in non-totalitarian countries don’t make much difference.  Unlike Mao, current Chinese dictator Hu Jintao couldn’t start his own Cultural Revolution.  And like Bush, Gore would have invaded Iraq.

I’m puzzled by the apparent contradiction between Scott’s two positions.  I wonder if he’d be willing to clear matters up.

Update: See Scott’s reply in the comments.  As far as I can tell, he’s saying that Bernanke is a Hu Jintao with respect to the Zeitgeist of a few hundred elite macroeconomists.  Is that a fair summary?