The New York Times Incompetence in Macroeconomic Reporting (IMR) Award
William K. Black
I have written repeatedly about the New York Times’ needs to create a prize in incompetence in macroeconomic reporting (IMR) and suggested that the paper award the IMR prize to its reporters. I suggested that the prize consist of a two hour lunch with Paul Krugman in which he will provide them with a remedial lecture on why austerity is an economically illiterate response to a recession.
NYT columns discussing austerity, particularly in the eurozone, demonstrate that its reporters religiously avoid reading Krugman’s scores of columns on austerity. As always on this subject, I want to make express that I don’t insist that the reporters agree with economics. It is fine for reporters to state that economics has known for 75 years that austerity is a self-destructive response to a recession but that some economists disagree. It is fine for the reporter to explain why he agrees with the austerian economists. It is not acceptable journalism to ignore the dominant economic view, 75 years of supporting events, and the empirical studies by austerians (the IMF) finding that fiscal changes have more powerful effects on the economy consistent with the dominant theory. It is not acceptable journalism to ignore unemployment and inequality and the role of austerity in increasing both. I end by expanding on Krugman’s column about a tragic financial media meme by discussing three related memes that are causing great harm.
This column discusses three articles that ran in the NYT on February 20, 2014. The columns are by David Brooks, Michael Shear, and Paul Krugman.
David Brooks’ column: NYT’s Reporters are to the Right of Brooks and AEI on Austerity
How bad have NYT reporters and editorial board become on the subject of austerity? They are to the right of David Brooks and the hard right American Enterprise Institute. My new plea, therefore, is that if the NYT is determined to ignore Krugman and economics on the subject of austerity, would they be willing to listen to David Brooks? In a February 20, 2014 column entitled “Capitalism for the Masses” Brooks wrote about his namesake (not a relative) who runs the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). AEI is a hard right group that is particularly culpable for its unholy war against effective financial regulation that was a major contributor to the criminogenic environment that produced the accounting control fraud epidemics that drove the crisis and the Great Recession.
in full: http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2014/02/new-york-times-reporters-wont-read-krugman-austerity-will-read-brooks.html#more-7618