Refutations\' Reputation

I've lately been reading Conjectures and Refutations, which is quite enjoyable.

First, Matt posted an excellent response to a post by Bryan Caplan, to which he later responded.

Also, this made me laugh:

I remember once (during the air phase of the Gulf War) seeing John Kenneth Galbraith making pronouncements on TV about the military situation, and telling friends that if I ever start pontificating in public about a technical subject I don’t understand, they should gag me.
– Paul Krugman, circa 1999

Apparently they didn’t take it to heart. Pity.