He warns Brits as the Babysitter-Keynesian propagandist is about to land in London:
Britain can’t afford to fall for the charms of the false economics Messiah Paul Krugman...And then Warner pounds Krugman to let the Brits know, he has nothing new to offer, that he is nothing but a brat grandchild of that evil Brit, Keynes:
Next week, there comes to these shores a Messiah, a prophet of great wisdom and understanding whose teachings promise to vanquish despair and “end this depression”. He is Prof Paul Krugman, a superstar polemicist who has been described by The Economist as “the most celebrated economist of his generation”. Actually, “celebrated” is not exactly the right word, for Krugman divides opinion like no other. To his followers, he’s a saint; to his detractors, he’s a false prophet with satanic intent...
I’ve been a little misleading here. He’s not really coming to Britain to save us, but rather to promote his latest book, End This Depression Now! Krugman is an economist with attitude, and he thinks Britain is in the midst of a “massive blunder” in economic policy. The UK is the very worst example of austerity economics, he believes, for unlike the poor beleaguered nations of the eurozone periphery, we’ve not had this misery forced on us by the ghastly euro, but have opted for it as an unnecessary penance for the sins of the boom. If only we could be persuaded to forsake “Osbornomics” and tread the path originally set out by our dearly beloved former leader, Gordon Brown – that of spending our way back to growth – then all would be well again
Krugman may appear loud and radical, but he follows a fairly standard Keynesian text.Yup. that's it. Krugman is standard Keynesian, but with a twist. This Messiah admits that his entire belief in Keynesian economics came to him in something of a vision, when he read and misunderstood a tale of a babysitter co-op.
(Thanks to Lew Rockwell)
"The UK is the very worst example of austerity economics, he believes, for unlike the poor beleaguered nations of the eurozone periphery, we’ve not had this misery forced on us by the ghastly euro, but have opted for it as an unnecessary penance for the sins of the boom."
ReplyDeleteIt's a fair comment from Warner about Krugman, who is quite misinformed. We've not had any "austerioty" (if only). We've had deficits for a decade, they're larger now than ever before and the State, this year, is spending more than it ever has done.
I don't particularly blame Krugman, although he should be more careful. Many people over here think there's austerity even as borrowing and spending grows ever larger.
Sending Krugman to the UK is the revenge for what the Brits gone done to us with Keynes. We are just re-exporting the inflation they exported to us.
ReplyDeleteDebate needed. Krugman vs President of Estonia or Finance Minister of Sweden.
ReplyDelete