I feel like there's not as much beef in high-level economics these days, in the sense of legitimate stars going at each other, pulling no punches, trying to kill off ideas or research programs. There's plenty of big guys who dislike each other (Heckman vs. Levitt), but not much substantive beef that finds its ways into journals. Maybe Card vs. Borjas is the best we've got now?
Same with hip hop. Back in the 90s we had Jay Z vs. Nas, 2 Pac against Biggie, and now...?
At least Heckman still runs over people I guess.