Connected to that, I really feel compelled to ask, is peer review working? It seems as though people like Kudlow, as well as twisting things, can also draw on support from papers published by professors from respected schools in reasonably prestigious journals.

Right, but it's the articles that they're twisting.  Kudlow is typically found twisting Arthur Laffer's work.  He can draw on support from Kennedy's tax cuts to say that Supply-Side economics does work, at least in some cases (and the consensus seems to be that it did back then).  Most economists I know of believe that the basic concept is true -- that there is a point at which revenue is maximized.  But the vast majority of economists, I think, will tell you that America is well to the left of the curve.

The easiest way the show that Kudlow is an idiot is to simply look at the data, which bonddad at Daily Kos has outlined on several occasions (to the point that I think he's beating a dead horse).  This tells you all you need to know:

Tax revenue from individual tax payers was 994 [billion] in 2001 and 927 billion in 2005 - a 6.7% decrease.

Despite the economy being hundreds of billions of dollars larger today than in 2001, revenue from income taxes in 2001, prior to the implementing of the cuts, was higher in raw dollars than it is today.  (The Laffer Curve contends that, if rates are on the right side of the curve, a tax cut will lead to higher revenue, in raw dollars, thanks to higher growth due to changes in behavior.)  From that, it's fairly plain to see that we're on the left side of the curve.  I believe the data comes from the Congressional Budget Office.

Wchurchill is the guy to talk to about Laffer, since I think he mentioned having studied under him at Chicago.  I trust that he'll correct any mischaracterization.

So, to answer your question, yes, I do think peer review works.  It's obviously far from perfect, as all human-created things are, and one problem is that there are any number of academic journals to publish in, so even the ideologues can find a place to rant.  Peer review, mainly from Milton Friedman, led to the demise of the Phillips Curve in the policy world, which played a major role in stagflation during the '70s, for example.

It's not my intention to be attacking you personally, Drew. Reading this I realise it sounds pretty heated. Please understand, I get passionate about this because it involves so much that is important. Academic integrity, the economics used to govern all our lives and the politics that rules us.

I didn't find it heated at all, and your comments are always respectful and insightful.  So no offense taken or intended.  I love talking about this stuff, and it's an easy subject to get passionate about, given its importance in our everyday lives -- especially when the crazies have the power.

Anyway, I'm off to a party to a "black and white" party tonight (whatever that is), so I have to go and argue with my fiancee about what I'm going to wear, because I'm (apparently) too fucking stupid to pick out a dress shirt to wear with a suit. ;)  She's still mad at me for wearing a pinstriped shirt with pinstriped pants to her graduation ceremony -- a big no-no for everyone but the British and the Italians (or so I'm told).  So all apologies for delayed responses.

Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin