You know what this economy needs? A space alien invasion!
Oh my god...is he really this stupid? Somehow I can't imagine that he is, but can't he see that if you take X resources from the private sector and divert them to a public works program, that is X less resources the private sector has? Can't he see that one job gained is another job lost?Can't he see that goods produced for the space alien invasion means less goods produced by private enterprise? Ugh.......and to think that most people actually believe this fallacy blows my mind.
Can't he see that one job gained is another job lost?
Careful with that logic. Economics is not zero-sum. Do you mean a job gained by the public sector?
So after the internet bubble burst we needed a housing bubble. And now that that's burst, we need an invasion bubble?
As long as people produce what's not needed, Krugman will be content.
@ Wheylous
Yeah, I meant that a job gained in the public sector would necessitate a job being lost in the private sector. Can you enlighten me on to why this is not necessarily true?
Purely in the private sector:
A job gained by a person does not necessarily mean a job lost by another person. In a society where there are no apparent jobs available innovation can create job openings.
When the public sector creates jobs:
I might tend to agree with you there (in my ignorant opinion), especially if you mean a skilled man taken for the public sector is stopped from adding to the private sector.
Though because of real-world interactions, this is not necessarily true, as you could have a government employee overlook regulations for a friend and allow him to develop in a more "free-market style" and thus help him by reducing market force distortions.
Then again, I have no clue what I am saying. Could anyone confirm this?
It's now safe to conclude that he has an agenda. Someone with a PhD in economics can't be that dumb, can they?
The sad thing is that the people who are stupid enough to fall for it bring us all down.
Institutionalized aggression is really convenient for those who want to remain in the middle of the bell curve.
This man along with Joseph Stiglitz really along with several others, are a good reason why the Nobel Prize in Economics should no longer be considered a respectable award.
Sorry to bump this, but I wasn't around to really read this stuff earlier in the week. Catching up on it now, what makes my blood boil is comparing Krugman's remarks here with his previous, fervent attacks on austerity measures. What does he expect to happen in the preparation for an alien invasion? Does he expect the poor to be better fed, clothed, transported and entertained?
You can debate whether austerity measures are effective. But there should be no debate that, in the scenario Krugman applauds, all humanity would suffer severe austerity, at least for the "18 months" he pulls out of his behind. (which, by the way, is pretty uninspiring; even with such an out-there scenario, the Keynesian solution requires at least 18 months to see results?)
It seems more likely that he is simply a demogogic political personality paid money to *knowingly* deceive people into trusting neoliberal ideas. It is the classic appeal to authority for people to even take him seriously.
Seemingly, Keynesianism (Radical) is only there (as is Monetarism) to justify the existence of a central bank and to the main policy of constant credit expansion. It is the just in it's most advanced stages of implosion and this is about as big of a threat that the 'banking/finance/C***su*k academic' world can produce...They cannot even use global warming because that requires a downscaling of production.
No, it's nice that you did bump...Clifford F. Thies has a Mises Daily published on the site just yesterday on this very thing:
That's so great that he caught that Nobel Prize interview. I would have sent it to him if he didn't mention it. I'm glad it was included in the segment. It really does help connect the dots. As if it's not obvious enough in that interview alone, but now we have Krugman working space aliens into his economic prescriptions. Listen to the way he talks about it. Jeez he's a nerd. Watch him in every interview he's ever done. He's so awkward. He's a walking stereotype.
I'd be willing to bet a heavy-set 12 year old could bully him out of his lunch money.
O'Doyle rules.