The Krugman Times
May 8, 2013 8:45 PM   Subscribe

The Krugman Times, the beloved liberal economist version of Malkovich Malkovich.
posted by ThatFuzzyBastard (13 comments total) 9 users marked this as a favorite
 
This is brilliant. And he noticed.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 8:52 PM on May 8, 2013


Describing Krugman as a "liberal economist" is like describing Darwin as a "liberal scientist." The economy is what it is, despite every effort to force it into a "left or right" box.
posted by SPrintF at 8:54 PM on May 8, 2013 [5 favorites]




it's beautiful
posted by Nattie at 9:34 PM on May 8, 2013


I thought he was bankrupt.
posted by homunculus at 9:39 PM on May 8, 2013


and... The Thomas Friedman Op/Ed Generator: Power With Purpose

Come Up With the Ultimate Thomas Friedman Porn Title
posted by homunculus at 9:41 PM on May 8, 2013


SPrintF: "Describing Krugman as a "liberal economist" is like describing Darwin as a "liberal scientist." The economy is what it is, despite every effort to force it into a "left or right" box."

While I'm on the left, and think Krugman is much closer to reality than many economists, this is pretty disingenuous. Any social science involves interpreting reality, and I'd be extremely wary of anyone claiming otherwise. Economics especially have been accused of making reality fit the (often simplistic) model, in particular neoclassical economics. Hell, it's a matter of debate whether economics are even a science at all.

So yeah, there are definitely different branches of economics, and labelling Krugman an (American) liberal economist seems pretty accurate to me. He's probably not much in agreement with either the neoclassical economists on the right or the European economists further to the left of him.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 10:09 PM on May 8, 2013 [10 favorites]


There's no doubt that Krugman is politically a liberal, on the other hand his economics is pretty straightforward and mainstream, very much in line with most economic thinking over the last 70+ years. Just because a whole bunch of politically right wing economists went all weird and started coming up with convenient, but flawed, theories that have not worked out well in the real world (Laffer curves, expansionary austerity and many others) doesn't really change that. A move hard right by one group doesn't make the mainstream more liberal.

(As a disclaimer, I very briefly had a work-study job doing some research for R. Glenn Hubbard. He seemed like a nice enough guy at the time, but I have since lost any respect for him.)
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 10:55 PM on May 8, 2013 [2 favorites]


"Not that many care, but Google Reader is scheduled to end July 1."

becomes...

"Not that many care, but market efficiency is scheduled to end July 1"

Awesome!
posted by vidur at 11:35 PM on May 8, 2013 [1 favorite]


SPrintF: "Describing Krugman as a "liberal economist" is like describing Darwin as a "liberal scientist." The economy is what it is, despite every effort to force it into a "left or right" box."

Well, the father of economics was a professor of moral philosophy. Economics is so intertwined with politics that for a good number of years, they called the study one of "political economy." Hell, the decision to even have an economy is subject to political will. So economic policies can easily have a left vs right dichtomy, if they start with different assumptions.

For example, free trade with China. If your goal is to improve the median wealth in a country, allowing Most Favored Nation status will help you maximize your goal. If your goal is to minimize the number of citizens negatively impacted by a policy change, you'd either find some way to perfectly compensate victims of economic trade policy, or argue against it. Or more honestly, if your goal is to improve the living conditions of the (rich|poor) at the expense of the (poor|rich), you will favor certain policies over others.

That said, Krugman in particular supports plenty of policies that chafe the left. Free trade being chiefly among them.
posted by pwnguin at 12:22 AM on May 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


Krugman-The Elf that keeps on giving.
posted by QueerAngel28 at 6:10 AM on May 9, 2013


I found it inordinately funny that the Krugman Times still included the full headline "Jeanne Cooper, ‘Young and the Restless’ Star, Dies at 84."

I guess Katherine Chancellor was just that rich.
posted by Madamina at 7:08 AM on May 9, 2013


Describing Krugman as a "liberal economist" is like describing Darwin as a "liberal scientist."

On the other hand, given that I know approximately fuck all about economics, and that economic thought is (cannot help but be) influenced by the prejudices of the thinker, I'm going to throw in with the guy who recognizes that his models stand in service to society and not the other way around. If someone is thirsty, he'd say, give 'em a drink. That's a much better starting point than "fuck you," which is what I'd expect from some "conservative" economists.
posted by klanawa at 4:08 PM on May 9, 2013


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