KRUGMAN to BROOKS: "That’s what Very Serious People said in the 1930s too."

[kpete]

.....................

1. That’s what Very Serious People said in the 1930s too. Then the approach of war finally delivered the stimulus we needed, and all those structural difficulties turned out to be imaginary.

2. Ireland was praised for its wonderful flexibility; it was a shining example of the art of the possible, declared George Osborne. Then, when things went wrong, it was told that it must fix its deep structural rigidities.

3. Anyone who says something like “If deficit spending were the route to prosperity, Greece would be in great shape” should be immediately considered not worth listening to. People in my camp have repeated until we’re blue in the face that the case for fiscal expansion is very specific to circumstance — it’s desirable when you’re in a liquidity trap, and only when you’re in a liquidity trap. I know that some people like to project their own crudity onto others, but what they’re actually demonstrating is their own ignorance.

........................

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/08/structural-flashbacks/?gwh=57AF3817A02CE8EE217A672248AAA644
updated to include Brook's "Serious" opinion:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/08/opinion/brooks-the-structural-revolution.html?hp

[The Magistrate]

1. Always Nice, Ma'am, To See Brooks Professionally Slapped

The man needs to be, every day and twice on Sundays.

[mazzarro]

3. That, my friend, is very hilarious!

Slapped down once a day and twice on Sundays -- one before service and one after service - eh?

[JHB]

11. I would prescribe that dosage hourly, rather than daily...

After all, he's a severe case who's been left untreated for so long.

[CBHagman]

25. Would that be the same David Brooks who just moved to a $3.95 million house?

Poor lamb, up till now he's been languishing away in a $1.6 million dwelling in Bethesda.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/reliable-source/post/surreal-estate-david-brooks-moves-from-bethesda-to-cleveland-park/2012/05/06/gIQAs27Q6T_blog.html

[pscot]

30. He must have moved into Thomas Friedman's neighborhood

[uponit7771]

14. +1

[librechik]

15. teehee

+1 too

[Octafish]

17. That is an amazing GIF, librechik!

Wow! What the future may hold...

[librechik]

20. it's hypnotic--

and hilarious!

[Octafish]

16. You might enjoy this, good Sir...

David Brooks is a Moonie.

"Convex. Concave."

[trumad]

2. Yeah I read Brooks this morning...

and couldn't wait for Krugmans response---LOL---and he responded exactly the way I thought he would.

When you have knuckleheads like Brooks opining about how we should fix the economy---it makes it pretty obvious the Conservatives haven't a clue.

[tex-wyo-dem]

31. Brooks is one of those "serious" conservatives who...

Casts himself quite the intellectual, but when you peel a layer or two away on his arguments you find it's all empty BS and backed-up by nothing or pure hyperbole.

There is no such thing as an intellectual conservative...purely a mythological creature.

[myrna minx]

4. K&R n/t

[hifiguy]

5. David Brooks = Prince of Gobshites.

The profundity of a Burma-Shave sign, but absent any of the depth or wit.

[Baitball Blogger]

6. Where would we be without Krugman putting this all in terms we can understand?

[RevStPatrick]

7. Brooks is such a weenie!

I am contractually obligated to say that every time I hear or read his name.

[coalition_unwilling]

8. Krugman's #4 (a citation of Keynes) also bears repeating for asswipes like

Brooks who claim to support long-term solutions, rather than short-term fixes:

In the long run, we're all dead!

[redqueen]

9. I love that man.

Krugman, of course.

Been a fan since he started trying to warn people about the housing bubbling. Love love love.

[Zorra]

10. Paul Krugman should be Secretary of the Treasury. nt

[1StrongBlackMan]

12. Every time ...

I hear this long-run fix argument, I'm reminded of the surgeon that comes to see the waiting family of the patient. The doctor exclaims: "The operation was a success; but the patient died."

[LittleGirl]

13. box at bottom of page

you have 5 of 10 free articles remaining this month.

Love Krugman

Rats! it's only the 8th. What do you all think about them (NYTimes) asking to pay up to view their articles?

[bupkus]

19. I just cancelled my NY Times home delivery recently

In response to their recent policy change regarding online articles.

If more people take the same approach it just might get the Times' attention.

[muriel_volestrangler]

23. I've taken to following Krugman's blog via RSS

Although they've arranged NYT blogs so that you don't get the main text, you can see how often he's posting. The 'front page' for his blog holds the 15 most recent posts; so when it gets near that number, I look at the front page.

In fact, I think that doesn't count towards the NYT monthly count anyway, because it's a "blog front", and they said:

"Get 10 articles each month on NYTimes.com, as well
as access to the home page, section fronts, blog fronts
and classifieds"

when they announced the restrictions. But I'm not 100% certain about that.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

26. If you're on Facebook, "like" the New York Times, and you can link to their articles

from their Facebook page.

Otherwise, Google the name of the article and access it by following the link.

There ARE ways around the pay wall.

(I refuse to subscribe, because their original subscription fee was $49 a year, and now it's $15 a month.)

[bupkus]

18. As has been said and oft repeated recently

Krugman is always right.

[peace frog]

21. Krugman has been on fire of late

and all the better for us that he is hitting the 1% and their slavish mouthpieces with everything he's got. ANd he's got a helluva lot.

[countryjake]

22. K&R!

[bananas]

24. Makes me think of Mel Brooks and "The Producers" nt.

[Uncle Joe]

27. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.

[girl gone mad]

28. No idea why he's putting this in terms of liquidity traps.

Greece can't deficit spend as needed because their debts are in Euro, a currency which they do not control.

If Greece had a sovereign currency or if the ECB would print more Euro to stimulate the periphery as needed, there would be no liquidity trap, which is merely a symptom of the structural problems inherent to the Euro.

I'm happy to see him arguing against austerity, but I wish he finally put the pieces together and dump the neoclassical claptrap.

[RainDog]

29. k&r n/t

[Pholus]

32. Very nice catch. I love reading the clear writings of a Nobel winner.... nt

[Brooklyn Dame]

33. I'm still annoyed that someone like Krugman isn't the Treasury Secretary

or at least on the POTUS' advisory team. He has a way of putting conservative arguments in their proper place -- the toilet. Conservative policies have done nothing more than trample on the security of the middle class and place more people at the bottom of the economic ladder.

http://borderlessnewsandviews.com/2012/05/the-bare-minimum-wage/

http://borderlessnewsandviews.com/2012/04/stealing-from-the-hungry/

http://borderlessnewsandviews.com/2012/04/the-great-divide/