Replying to one part of James Ahiakpor's post where he wrote:  
"I very much appreciate Sumitra Shah's reproductions of Adam Smith's  
counsel on the art of persuasion.  But as she perhaps would be the first  
also to acknowledge, gentle persuasion does not guarantee conversion of  
minds.  Her last post was to declare that she and I would have to agree  
to disagree on what properly should be in the domain of public funding.  
...I don't think I can persuade Sumitra to changes sides and become a free-market
adherent, from what I now know of her."
  
  
   
I absolutely agree that gentle persuasion is no guarantee of conversion. But it at least
guarantees that the parties engaged in the conversation will keep listening to each other.
Changing sides in our economic thinking is more like an encounter with the shifting
tectonic plates [I have noticed that it is always the most extreme adherents to a school
of thought who have the most trouble]. I don't see much evidence of conversions anywhere,
on any listservs. Mostly we talk to like-minded people. But if we are lucky, we get to
hear other viewpoints. And short of total or even partial conversion, there is a lot of
good that can come from it. Although I do remember some folks complaining that heterodox
schools don't get any exposure here. Someday somebody will have to research the role of
the listservs in the construction and transmission of knowledge. In the meantime, I will
continue to listen and hope James will some day realize what a positive role public
funding can play in making us a better society!
   
Cheers,  
   
Sumitra Shah