I've been doing some research since this topic came up. Because of my motorcycling background, I have been searching the Internet for motorcycle-related explanations of turning (since there are precious few references to inline skate turning and the tire/wheel cross-sections are similar).
It appears that motorcycles and inline skates have something in common called "camber thrust". Basically, it is the "cone effect" that Mr. Baum dismisses in his article. If I understand his objection to the "cone effect", he is saying that the skate axles are fixed parallel and would, due to the wheels' grip, therefore resist the turning effect. If the axles could be turned toward the center of the turn, as on a motorcycle, then they would converge to the center of the turn. They are obviously prevented from doing so by the skate frame.
I disagree with this objection on the basis of 1) the relative shortness of the skate wheelbase and 2) the deformability and slipping action (i.e., non-perfect grip) of the contact patch. The shorter the wheelbase, the less wheel deformation/slipping required for a given radius turn. The converse is true for longer wheelbases, e.g., those for a 5-wheel racing speedskate
Example: If you consider a theoretical two-wheeled inline skate with the wheels very close together (i.e., almost touching), it would turn very easily in response to tipping. The angular difference between the parallel axles and the center radius of the turn would be relatively small. On the other hand, if the front and rear axles were separated by 36 inches, it would be comparatively difficult to make a tight radius turn. In this situation, the angular difference between the front/rear axles and the center radius would be relatively enormous. Obviously, a normal pair of skates is somewhere in between these two extremes.
By the way, the actual radius of the turn is not solely influenced by camber thrust, because centifugal forces tend to increase the radius dictated by camber thrust.
For those of you who are interested, google "camber thrust" and "motorcycle" to see some interesting references. In particular, the following links discuss camber thrust (as well as other motorcycle turning issues):
http://www.tonyfoale.com/Articles/Tyres/TYRES.htm
http://www.ommriders.com/read-ride/adva ... eering.htm
From what I can determine, camber thrust is consistent with Harald's description.
Comments welcome.