Sunday, September 1, 2013

Thinking Out Loud on Krugman

Paul Krugman correctly notes that Milton Friedman may likely be nothing more than a footnote in economic history, but will Krugman become the disappeared John Kenneth Galbraith of economic history?

5 comments:

  1. When I watch schiff vs James Galbraith, I imagine Rothbard and John k Galbraith having a debate with the same outcome.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Only Rothbard would go all the way and advocate to push the button and smash the State, while Schiff will stop shirt and rest on minarchy.

    Love Schiff's work though...if only he could be nudged just a *bit* more to understanding liberty the Rothbardian way.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Galbraith was a relatively well known minor celebrity who was generally known to the public and not just by people interested in economics. On the other hand, Krugman is not well known by the general public at all even during the height of his current "popularity". In 10 or 12 years after we have vanquished the Keynesians once and for all, he'll be about as popular and famous with the general public as a 60s Maoist theoretician is today.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Krugman at least will be remembered among economists for his work on international trade theory (where he had the good sense to ask the question about market power in trade relations that nobody had yet - and the mathematical skill to make a model explaining that phenomenon that at least nominally corresponds to how things actually work). Galbraith I am having difficulty thinking of any theoretical advance that he actually may have made.

    ReplyDelete