Crooked Timber on contrarianism, as exemplified by the new book Superfreakonomics :
To sum up my current view: “contrarianism” is mostly contrary to reality, the “conventional wisdom” is probably wiser than the typical unconventional alternative, and “politically incorrect” views are almost always incorrect in every way: literally, scientifically and morally. I’m not sure, but I think that this makes John Quiggin a conservative by temperament.