Krugman: U.S. Almost Surely Headed For Depression-Era Unemployment | Mor...

Paul Krugman is wrong: Why his case against Bernie Sanders misses the point

Paul Krugman is wrong: Why his case against Bernie Sanders misses the point



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For the first time since his strident defenses of globalization ruffled some fair trade feathers in the 1990s, Paul Krugman is in a protracted debate with the American left.

On the surface, they’re fighting about whether it matters that many centrist and center-left economists are uncomfortable with some of the promises Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign has made about how his policies will improve the economy. On a deeper level, however, they’re fighting about what it means to be a Democrat, and whether the party should behave more like a left-wing version of the GOP.

This is an important conversation, and the fact that it’s even happening should make lefties smile. They’re already on Nicholas Klein’s third step! For my part, I think both the “wonks” and their leftist critics are making vital points (annoying of me, I know). But they’re talking past one another, too. Leftists believe what’s important right now is politics, not policy. Krugman believes there should be no distinction.

With all due respect to the New York Times columnist, who has been an invaluable ally for the liberal movement for much of the past 16 years, there is a distinction. Good policy does not always make for good politics. There are positive lessons to be learned from the conservative movement’s example. And, right now, it’s politics — not policy — that matters the most.

Health Reform Realities - The New York Times

Health Reform Realities - The New York Times:



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First, like it or not, incumbent players have a lot of power. Private insurers played a major part in killing health reform in the early 1990s, so this time around reformers went for a system that preserved their role and gave them plenty of new business.

Second, single-payer would require a lot of additional tax revenue — and we would be talking about taxes on the middle class, not just the wealthy. It’s true that higher taxes would be offset by a sharp reduction or even elimination of private insurance premiums, but it would be difficult to make that case to the broad public, especially given the chorus of misinformation you know would dominate the airwaves.

Paul Krugman: Housing bubbles and retold lies | The Sacramento Bee

Paul Krugman: Housing bubbles and retold lies | The Sacramento Bee:



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BY PAUL KRUGMAN

The New York Times

In May 2009, Congress created a special commission to examine the causes of the financial crisis. The idea was to emulate the celebrated Pecora Commission of the 1930s, which used careful historical analysis to help craft regulations that gave the United States two generations of financial stability.

But some members of the new commission had a different goal. George Santayana famously remarked that “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” What he didn’t point out was that some people want to repeat the past – and that such people have an interest in making sure that we don’t remember what happened, or that we remember it wrong.

Sure enough, some commission members sought to block consideration of any historical account that might support efforts to rein in runaway bankers. As one of those members, Peter Wallison of the American Enterprise Institute, wrote to a fellow Republican on the commission, it was important that what they said “not undermine the ability of the new House GOP to modify or repeal Dodd-Frank,” the financial regulations introduced in 2010. Never mind what really happened; the party line, literally, required telling stories that would help Wall Street do it all over again.

Which brings me to a new movie the enemies of financial regulation really, really don’t want you to see.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/article50457230.html#storylink=cpy

USW Blog » Blog Archive » Krugman: Sweden Has Answers to Our Taxation Problems

USW Blog » Blog Archive » Krugman: Sweden Has Answers to Our Taxation Problems

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not as much as Huey Long, but on the way.

what Krugman wanted to hear in state of union

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

chris hays of msnbc

Paul Krugman Says It Again: Japan's Stagnation Is A Myth - Forbes

Paul Krugman Says It Again: Japan's Stagnation Is A Myth - Forbes:

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Not only is he right in dismissing the basket case story but if you look at the aggregates that matter  to Japanese policymakers, it is clear that Japan has done far better than the United States over the last two decades. For a start Japan has increased its net overseas assets by nearly $3 trillion — at a time when the United States’s net overseas LIABILITIES ballooned by $8 trillion. Underlying this contrasting trajectory is the fact that Japan ranks with Germanyas the only major advanced nations with super-strong  current account surpluses (the current account is the widest measure of trade and is not affected by the distortions caused by rampant transfer pricing, which have disguised the strength of Japan’s visible trade in recent years).

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this includes us t-bonds

Paul Krugman: When the doomsday prophesy fails - Post Bulletin

Paul Krugman: When the doomsday prophesy fails - Post Bulletin:

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 In the 1950s, three social psychologists joined a cult that was predicting the imminent end of the world. Their purpose was to observe the cultists' response when the world did not, in fact, end on schedule. What they discovered and described in their classic book, "When Prophecy Fails," is the irrefutable failure of a prophecy does not cause true believers — people who have committed themselves to a belief both emotionally and by their life choices — to reconsider. On the contrary, they become even more fervent and proselytize even harder.

This insight seems highly relevant as 2012 draws to a close. After all, a lot of people came to believe we were on the brink of catastrophe — and these views were given extraordinary reach by the mass media. As it turned out, of course, the predicted catastrophe failed to materialize. But we can be sure the cultists won't admit to having been wrong. No, the people who told us a fiscal crisis was imminent will just keep at it, more convinced than ever.

Oh, wait a second — did you think I was talking about the Mayan calendar thing?

Seriously, at every stage of our ongoing economic crisis — and in particular, every time anyone has suggested actually trying to do something about mass unemployment — a chorus of voices has warned that, unless we bring down budget deficits now, now, now, financial markets will turn on America, driving interest rates sky-high. And these prophecies of doom have had a powerful effect on our economic discourse.

Paul Krugman: Here's The Dirty Secret About Economic Growth

Paul Krugman: Here's The Dirty Secret About Economic Growth:

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 The great bulk of the economic commentary you read in the papers is focused on the short run: the effects of the "fiscal cliff" on U.S. recovery, the stresses on the euro, Japan's latest attempt to break out of deflation. This focus is understandable, since one global depression can ruin your whole day. But our current travails will eventually end. What do we know about the prospects for long-run prosperity?

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then link to ny times

Krugman Hasty Fix to Deficit Would Cause 'Austerity Bomb'

Paul Krugman: Ryan Budget 'A Fake Document'

Paul Krugman: Ryan Budget 'A Fake Document':

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Fiscal cliff villains are just the usual suspects - krugman

Fiscal cliff villains are just the usual suspects - IV Drip - Voices - The Independent:

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 Paul Krugman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist, writes probably the most influential economics column and blog in America - and therefore the world. His Monday scribble is usually a reliable and thumping diatribe against Republicans such as Grover Norquist who, ahead of negotiations over the fiscal cliff, produce familiar and familiarly wrong arguments about how to take America's economy forward. In today's column, Krugman slaps the "phantom menace" of America's deficit. Here's a flavour:

"So let’s step back for a minute, and consider what’s going on here. For years, deficit scolds have held Washington in thrall with warnings of an imminent debt crisis, even though investors, who continue to buy U.S. bonds, clearly believe that such a crisis won’t happen; economic analysis says that such a crisis can’t happen; and the historical record shows no examples bearing any resemblance to our current situation in which such a crisis actually did happen.

If you ask me, it’s time for Washington to stop worrying about this phantom menace — and to stop listening to the people who have been peddling this scare story in an attempt to get their way."

Paul Krugman: Life, death and deficits - San Jose Mercury News

Paul Krugman: Life, death and deficits - San Jose Mercury News:

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 America's political landscape is infested with many zombie ideas -- beliefs about policy that have been repeatedly refuted with evidence and analysis but refuse to die. The most prominent zombie is the insistence that low taxes on rich people are the key to prosperity. But there are others.

And right now the most dangerous zombie is probably the claim that rising life expectancy justifies a rise in both the Social Security retirement age and the age of eligibility for Medicare. Even some Democrats -- including, according to reports, the president -- have seemed susceptible to this argument. But it's a cruel, foolish idea -- cruel in the case of Social Security, foolish in the case of Medicare -- and we shouldn't let it eat our brains.

First of all, you need to understand that while life expectancy at birth has gone up a lot, that's not relevant to this issue; what matters is life expectancy for those at or near retirement age. When, to take one example, Alan Simpson -- the co-chairman of President Barack Obama's deficit commission -- declared that Social Security was "never intended as a retirement program" because life expectancy when it was founded was only 63, he was displaying his ignorance. Even in 1940, Americans who made it to age 65 generally had many years left.

Now, life expectancy at age 65 has ris

Paul Krugman: Romney is selling optimisim, but who's buying it? - Post Bulletin

Paul Krugman: Romney is selling optimisim, but who's buying it? - Post Bulletin

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Mitt Romney is optimistic about optimism. In fact, it's pretty much all he's got. And that fact should make you very pessimistic about his chances of leading an economic recovery. As many people have noticed, Romney's five-point "economic plan" is very nearly substance-free. It vaguely suggests that he will pursue the same goals Republicans always pursue — weaker environmental protection, lower taxes on the wealthy. But it offers neither specifics nor any indication why returning to George W. Bush's policies would cure a slump that began on Bush's watch. In his meeting with donors in Boca Raton, Fla., however, Romney revealed his real plan, which is to rely on magic. "My own view is," he declared, "if we win on Nov. 6, there will be a great deal of optimism about the future of this country. We'll see capital come back, and we'll see — without actually doing anything — we'll actually get a boost in the economy." Are you feeling reassured? In fairness to Romney, his assertion that electing him would spontaneously spark an economic boom is consistent with his party's current economic dogma. Republican leaders have long insisted that the main thing holding the economy back is the "uncertainty" created by President Barack Obama's statements — roughly speaking, that businesspeople aren't investing because Obama has hurt their feelings. If you believe that, it makes sense to argue that changing presidents would, all by itself, cause an economic revival.

Paul Krugman: Hurray for health care reform

Paul Krugman: Hurray for health care reform

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It's said that you can judge a man by the quality of his enemies. If the same principle applies to legislation, the Affordable Care Act — which was signed into law two years ago, but for the most part has yet to take effect — sits in a place of high honor.
Now, the act — known to its foes as Obamacare, and to the cognoscenti as ObamaRomneycare — isn't easy to love, since it's very much a compromise, dictated by the perceived political need to change existing coverage and challenge entrenched interests as little as possible. But the perfect is the enemy of the good; for all its imperfections, this reform would do an enormous amount of good. And one indicator of just how good it is comes from the apparent inability of its opponents to make an honest case against it.
To understand the lies, you first have to understand the truth. How would ObamaRomneycare change American health care?

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/paul-krugman/paul-krugman-hurray-for-health-care-reform/article_b576d086-b511-5a7a-aff0-c30780aab7ef.html#ixzz1pfqtrAi5

Paul Krugman: U.S. economy is not OK

Paul Krugman: U.S. economy is not OK

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from article

In a better world — specifically, a world with a better policy elite — a good jobs report would be cause for unalloyed celebration. In the world we actually inhabit, however, every silver lining comes with a cloud. Friday's report was, in fact, much better than expected, and has made many people, myself included, more optimistic. But there's a real danger that this optimism will be self-defeating, because it will encourage and empower the purge-and-liquidate crowd.

So, about that jobs report: it was genuinely good, certainly compared with the dreariness that has become the norm. Notably, for once falling unemployment was the real thing, reflecting growing availability of jobs rather than workers dropping out of the labor force, and hence out of the unemployment measure.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/paul-krugman/paul-krugman-u-s-economy-is-not-ok/article_e97385d6-d00d-59f2-871d-004b4b91c8e9.html#ixzz1lhddBVLF

Vouchers for veterans and other bad ideas

Vouchers for veterans and other bad ideas

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U.S. health care is remarkably diverse. In terms of how care is paid for and delivered, many of us effectively live in Canada, some live in Switzerland, some live in Britain, and some live in the unregulated market of conservative dreams. One result of this diversity is that we have plenty of home-grown evidence about what works and what doesn't.

Naturally, then, politicians — Republicans in particular — are determined to scrap what works and promote what doesn't. And that brings me to Mitt Romney's latest really bad idea, unveiled on Veterans Day: to partially privatize the Veterans Health Administration.

What Romney and everyone else should know is that the VHA is a huge policy success story, which offers important lessons for future health care reform.

Many people still have an image of veterans' health care based on the terrible state of the system two decades ago. Under the Clinton administration, however, the VHA was overhauled, and it achieved a remarkable combination of rising quality and successful cost control. Multiple surveys have found the VHA providing better care than most Americans receive, even as the agency has held cost increases well below those facing Medicare and private insurers. Furthermore, the VHA has led the way in cost-saving innovation, especially the use of electronic medical records.

What's behind this success? Crucially, the VHA is an integrated system, which provides health care as well as paying for it. So it's free from the perverse incentives created when doctors and hospitals profit from expensive tests and procedures, whether or not those procedures actually make medical sense. And because VHA patients are in it for the long term, the agency has a stronger incentive to invest in prevention than private insurers, many of whose customers move on after a few years.

And yes, this is 'socialized medicine"

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/relationships-and-special-occasions/columns/miss-manners/vouchers-for-veterans-and-other-bad-ideas/article_8c30a823-94bd-5d25-a2b7-7827e5b0743d.html#ixzz1dnG1zgEQ

Paul Krugman on The Young Turks October 29, 2007

Paul knows his stuff--history and economics