Did Paul Volcker Have Paul Krugman in Mind When He Made This Comment?

Former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker is a graduate of Princeton University '49.

In May of this year, The Daily Princetonian spoke to the former chairman following a panel discussion in which he participated. Paul Krugman, who teaches at Princeton, uses his pulpit at NYT to regularly call for the Fed to create more price inflation. Did Volcker have Krugman in mind when this exchange took place between TDP and Volcker?

TDP: And does high inflation matter as long as it’s expected?

PV: It sure does, if the market’s stable. And if it is expected, then everyone adjusts, and it doesn’t do you any good. The responsibility of the government is to have a stable currency. This kind of stuff that you’re being taught at Princeton disturbs me. Your teachers must be telling you that if you’ve got expected inflation, then everybody adjusts and then it’s OK. Is that what they’re telling you? Where did the question come from?

The TDP correspondent did not follow up and took the questioning in another direction, but it doesn't sound like Volcker is a fan of, at least, Krugman's inflation teories.