I couldn't agree more.  The top minds turned away from activist policy a few decades ago -- roughly around the time of stagflation.  That was also roughly the time period when the policy entrepreneurs of Supply-side economics began taking over.  Krugman has talked about this in the past -- how he's saddened by the lack of idealism among his students.  The students don't have the guts to try to fight the economic problems of today.  That is sad, if what he says is true, because I think the activism of the past brought great improvements to the average person's life, and we're going to need that sort of thought in the future.

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

Could someone summarize this discussion in any way and send it to newspapers or frontpage it again??? This entire thread is incredibly insightful.