Paul Krugman

Old-fashioned Austerity

krugman.blogs.nytimes.com — Matthew Yglesias piles on Michael Kinsley too, and makes a point I've also tried to make in the past: if the real problem is that we overspent and lived beyond our means, we should be working harder, not throwing millions of people into unemployment.

The Liquidationist Urge

krugman.blogs.nytimes.com — I'm stayed out of the fracas over Mike Kinsley's somewhat bizarre attack on my recent writings; Mark Thoma, Brad DeLong, and Dan Drezner have it covered. And I owe a debt to Kinsley, who hired me to write for Slate way back when, letting me establish a reputation as someone who could write short-form pieces about economics for a broad audience, which led down a path to, well, you know.

Friday Night Music: Suzanne Vega, Gypsy

krugman.blogs.nytimes.com — Not about macroeconomics.

That 90s Show - NYTimes.com

krugman.blogs.nytimes.com — I picked a good week to be away - and I am still away, mostly, although playing a bit of hooky on the notebook right now. For it has been the week of OBAMA SCANDALS, nonstop. Except it seems that there weren't actually any scandals, just the usual confusion and low-level mistakes that happen all the time, in any administration.

That Hideous Strength

krugman.blogs.nytimes.com — The FT has an interesting article on problems with Irish GNP (not GDP) accounting; essentially, measured Irish income is being inflated by foreign companies with no real activity there that nonetheless find ways to make profits materialize in a low-tax jurisdiction.

Too Much Talk About Liquidity

krugman.blogs.nytimes.com — Antonio Fatas is annoyed at Gillian Tett, who talks to the I-see-bubbles crowd and assumes that they have The Truth - namely, that those crazy central banks are flooding the world with liquidity, driving asset prices to crazy levels, and it will all end in terrible grief.

The Sadomonetarists of Basel

krugman.blogs.nytimes.com — The WSJ highlights a speech by Jaime Caruana, general manager of the Bank for International Settlements, warning of the dangers of easy money and the need to raise rates now to avert ... something or other. And his views matter, says the Journal: Mr. Caruana is no disgruntled outvoted hawk on a policy-setting council, trying desperately to set the record straight after being outvoted.

The Smith/Klein/Kalecki Theory of Austerity

krugman.blogs.nytimes.com — Noah Smith recently offered an interesting take on the real reasons austerity garners so much support from elites, no matter hw badly it fails in practice.

Who You Gonna Bet On?

krugman.blogs.nytimes.com — OK, this is different: Jesse Eisinger of Propublica - Propublica! - defending those poor maligned hedge fund managers against the ridicule of macroeconomists.

About That Debt Crisis? Never Mind

krugman.blogs.nytimes.com — OK, another toe dipped in reality. The new CBO numbers are out, and they scream "debt crisis? What debt crisis?" Here's the actual and projected ratio of federal debt to GDP: Yes, debt rose substantially in the face of economic crisis - which is what is supposed to happen.