It isn't bad at all, although I don't know just how good a sub-Turing version of Brad it is. However, it can generate some amusing content, like this:
Prompt: Write a dialog between 2 Ancient Greek philosophers who took sides on Keynesian vs Hayekian economic theories. Inject a third comment based on Brad DeLong's POV.
[Not as good as DeLong's imagined dialogues from the past.]
ChatGPT said:
Title: "Agora of Ideas: A Dialogue on the Market and the State"
Starring Socrates (Keynesian), Plato (Hayekian), and Heraclitus (as J. Bradford DeLong's avatar)
Socrates: Let us consider, dear Plato, what becomes of a polis when its citizens, struck by misfortune, cease to spend. Shall the state not act, like a wise physician, applying a tonic to revive demand and thus employment?
Plato: And yet, Socrates, what you propose risks much. If the rulers distort the signals of the marketplace, how shall the true desires of the people—expressed through prices—be known? Intervene too much, and we fall into tyranny by bureaucracy.
Socrates: I do not suggest eternal meddling, but timely stewardship. When men hoard rather than hire, when the Agora falls silent save for beggars’ pleas, should not the republic lend its voice and coin?
Plato: The Republic must govern justly, not indulge in alchemy. Order emerges not from commands but from spontaneous harmonies—if only the rules remain clear, stable, and known.
Heraclitus (smiling faintly): Gentlemen, perhaps both of you are right—partially. The river of the economy does not flow in only one direction. Sometimes it pools, requiring the hand of the planner; sometimes it races ahead, demanding restraint. The true logos lies in knowing when to act and when to watch.
Socrates: And who, dear Heraclitus, shall possess such wisdom?
Heraclitus: That is the Delongian paradox. The market is a marvel, but not a god. The state is a tool, but not a savior. History—particularly the long twentieth century—teaches that full employment and shared prosperity arose not from Hayek’s invisible catallaxy alone, but from wise, imperfect attempts to manage aggregate demand. From Roosevelt to Beveridge to postwar social democracy.
Plato: But then we risk decadence, dependency, inflation—a society that believes bread is baked by decree, not labor.
Heraclitus: And yet the neoliberals promised markets would deliver utopia. Instead, we got financial crises, stagnation, and populist rage. The Delongian path suggests we slouch not toward laissez-faire nor Leviathan, but toward a mixed economy that bends markets to serve humanity—not the reverse.
Socrates: Then let us return to the Agora, not merely to trade, but to deliberate. For perhaps the truest wealth is a society that learns, adapts, and refuses to worship either invisible hands or iron fists.
Heraclitus (softly, as he walks away): All flows, but some bridges are worth rebuilding.
But text can be a tad boring to normal people, not to speak of undergrads, when can we expect to see audio/visual of Prof. Delong to go along with the text?
It isn't bad at all, although I don't know just how good a sub-Turing version of Brad it is. However, it can generate some amusing content, like this:
Prompt: Write a dialog between 2 Ancient Greek philosophers who took sides on Keynesian vs Hayekian economic theories. Inject a third comment based on Brad DeLong's POV.
[Not as good as DeLong's imagined dialogues from the past.]
ChatGPT said:
Title: "Agora of Ideas: A Dialogue on the Market and the State"
Starring Socrates (Keynesian), Plato (Hayekian), and Heraclitus (as J. Bradford DeLong's avatar)
Socrates: Let us consider, dear Plato, what becomes of a polis when its citizens, struck by misfortune, cease to spend. Shall the state not act, like a wise physician, applying a tonic to revive demand and thus employment?
Plato: And yet, Socrates, what you propose risks much. If the rulers distort the signals of the marketplace, how shall the true desires of the people—expressed through prices—be known? Intervene too much, and we fall into tyranny by bureaucracy.
Socrates: I do not suggest eternal meddling, but timely stewardship. When men hoard rather than hire, when the Agora falls silent save for beggars’ pleas, should not the republic lend its voice and coin?
Plato: The Republic must govern justly, not indulge in alchemy. Order emerges not from commands but from spontaneous harmonies—if only the rules remain clear, stable, and known.
Heraclitus (smiling faintly): Gentlemen, perhaps both of you are right—partially. The river of the economy does not flow in only one direction. Sometimes it pools, requiring the hand of the planner; sometimes it races ahead, demanding restraint. The true logos lies in knowing when to act and when to watch.
Socrates: And who, dear Heraclitus, shall possess such wisdom?
Heraclitus: That is the Delongian paradox. The market is a marvel, but not a god. The state is a tool, but not a savior. History—particularly the long twentieth century—teaches that full employment and shared prosperity arose not from Hayek’s invisible catallaxy alone, but from wise, imperfect attempts to manage aggregate demand. From Roosevelt to Beveridge to postwar social democracy.
Plato: But then we risk decadence, dependency, inflation—a society that believes bread is baked by decree, not labor.
Heraclitus: And yet the neoliberals promised markets would deliver utopia. Instead, we got financial crises, stagnation, and populist rage. The Delongian path suggests we slouch not toward laissez-faire nor Leviathan, but toward a mixed economy that bends markets to serve humanity—not the reverse.
Socrates: Then let us return to the Agora, not merely to trade, but to deliberate. For perhaps the truest wealth is a society that learns, adapts, and refuses to worship either invisible hands or iron fists.
Heraclitus (softly, as he walks away): All flows, but some bridges are worth rebuilding.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is returning to theaters Sunday and Wednesday. Is this news to the bot?
(I have my tickets)
Fun!
But text can be a tad boring to normal people, not to speak of undergrads, when can we expect to see audio/visual of Prof. Delong to go along with the text?