Monday, January 30, 2012

Meanwhile, in an alternate universe

Paul (you lost me at Krugman) Kruglman's column is entitled "The Austerity Debacle".

What austerity?

Basically a re-hash of "Keynes was right" and "we didn't spend enough".   Which I think sums up Paul's brand of economics.

3 comments:

Severian said...

No surprise there. Krugman's a one-trick pony who can't even do his one trick right. Is there any conceivable situation in which he wouldn't say "yay Keynes, more public spending!"?

[to be fair to him, though: why would he? He got a Nobel prize and a lucrative gig at one of the most influential papers in the world peddling this schtick. It's not sound economic sense to self-cancel one's meal ticket]

philmon said...

How did Elton & Bernie put it?

I've gotta get a meal ticket
To survive you need a meal ticket
To stay alive you need a meal ticket.

Feel no pain
No regrets
When you sign the line
You're someone else
Do yourself a favor
And the meal ticket does the rest

Severian said...

Bingo. I don't blame Krugman for this -- I'd like to think I have integrity, but wave a Nobel, a legion of slavish fans, and a few million per year in my face and I bet I'd say anything you want.

My problem is with the legion of slavish fans. I just don't understand how one can continue to read the same repetitive, nearly fact-free drivel week after week, year after year, and not begin to notice that he's just the "more cowbell" guy with a bigger megaphone.

[Of course, without repetitive, fact-free drivel, political blogging would cease to exist, so the failure of understanding is obviously mine]