Friday, January 6, 2012

Krugman Cries Uncle

Less than 4 weeks ago (4 weeks ago!!!) Paul Krugman said that we were in a depression (my bold):
....under depression conditions — which is what we have now — inflation is very much a positive thing.
The man has no clue as to influences on the economy.

Today's jobs numbers clearly show we are no where near a depression. Thus, he makes an attempt today to redirect his ass out of the grinder (My bold):
A brief note while in transit, about today’s jobs report.

Obviously it’s better than we’ve been seeing.
But we need much faster job growth; it says something about how beaten down we are that this is considered good news.
Two things should be noted here. In his first post, he was calling for higher inflation because of "the depression". In the second post, he is pooh, poohing the speed of the recovery, not the recovery itself.

So Paulie, what the hell happened to your depression, which caused you to call for further inflation? Let's even give you that it is a slow recovery. Paulie that ain't a depression. Further, because this is a Ben Bernanke manipulated recovery, meaning lots of new money printed, the price inflation is only a wee bit behind the jobs numbers. At that point, Paulie, you are going to look totally out of your mind saying we were in a depression and that even more money printing was required. I remind you, you said this while your Princeton buddy Bernanke has been printing dollars as though he was on a personal contest to beat out G. William Miller as one of the kookiest Fed chairman ever.

Paulie, it may really be time to hang up the NYT column and spend more time on your theories on interstellar trade. Mars is waiting.

10 comments:

  1. As I have said in the past, Krugman is no fool, he just is working with the wrong tools. Trust me, I have heard him say plenty of things that make sense, but I have also heard him make some truly amateurish blunders. But, because he is no fool, he usually leaves himself a good "out".

    That PK is one slippery sonofagun, but I think that you have now given him no quarter.

    This is no longer a "Krugman Kontradiction", this is the beginning of a full reversal. It should be interesting to see how he slips and slides his way out of this one (esp. since you've been attempting to warn him for at least the past month or so). That's what happens when you don't understand economics and you're a slave to the data-- you're always a few steps behind.

    Maybe he's got a 'hangover'.

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  2. Krugman saying we have a depressed economy has nothing to do with the rate of change in which the economy is recovering. As long as there's a large output gap compared to the pre-recession trend, Krugman's definition of depressed economy applies. Wenzel is thinking in terms of rate of change while Krugman is thinking in term of levels.

    Imagine the unemployment rate was at 90%, but the economy started adding 600 jobs a month. Wenzel would claim "Stupid Krugman, doesn't he know we're no longer in a depression? That's record breaking job growth! Unemployment is still 90%, but the depression is over!"

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  3. Ron Paul's 2002 Predictions All Come True

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifJG_oFFDK0&feature=player_embedded

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  4. I can't watch you do this to yourself anymore. Do you realize how bad you will look if the primary trend turns deflationary this year? Keep in mind you are representing the ideas of the austrian view, and the austrian view does not predict near term.
    Deflationary waves come during secular inflationary trends (08'). Krugman will be screaming "I told you so" if another occurs this year.

    All I am saying is, you are really going out on a limb here by pretty much stating this year will bring about an artificial inflationary boom.

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  5. How does your observation about jobs stack up against this one I'm not sure:

    "Digging under the surface, the drop in the unemployment rate is nothing but a statistical mirage."

    http://www.financialsense.com/contributors/michael-shedlock/2012/01/06/latest-unemployment-numbers-real-improvement-or-statistical-mirage

    Just asking, and thinking.

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  6. "Beaten down we are"

    Are we Europe yet? The Europeans are programmed to think that 10% unemployment with 2% GDP growth is overheating.

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  7. Does Krugman understand that high unemployment in depresion conditions and high inflation means that people are going to starve?

    Is he and FDR really that stupid (No wonder the depression lasted 15 years...I bet FDR destroyed people's lives for 15 year deliberately just so the thieving psychopath could feel powerful)? Millions of people in poorer countries were starved by the FED's QE2 that drove up energy and food prices.

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  8. Krugman has been humiliated yet again by Wenzel. Just wait until this fed created bubble bursts and inflation really kicks in...

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  9. Shill:

    "The passing of an extraordinary edict making cash transactions of more than Euro 1,000 illegal (not subject to reporting – just plain illegal). Following Prodi’s own desire, the existing regime has indicated that this level will be progressively reduced to a limit as low as Euro 300. Hence cash is maybe for the first time in history no longer legal tender (over Euro 1,000, for now);"

    This is exactly consistent with Nick Rockefeller telling Aaron Russo that the goal of the international oligarchs is to impose a world digital currency, stored on RFID chips that will be implanted in people's arms, and if you dissent or resist, they'll turn off your chip.

    It's not surprising that almost as soon as they installed a Goldman puppet as the new head of Italy, this transpires.

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