Krugman to Teachers' Union: You're Not to Blame for the Economic Crisis

[proud2BlibKansan]

Paul Krugman just finished speaking to an annual American Federation of Teachers conference in Washington, D.C. Unlike many of his fellow Times columnists--most notably David Brooks and Thomas Friedman, who tend to support standards and accountability reforms--Krugman rarely writes explicitly about education policy. Given his role as a sort of national spokesman for disaffected liberals, I tuned in with interest to hear what Krugman would say in front of an audience of teachers.

The current anti-union, anti-public sector mood is based upon a faulty reading of economic history, Krugman said: the belief that the recession of the 1970s was caused by "excess government and too much labor power" instead of the decline of American manufacturing, the energy crisis, and bad monetary policy.

This faulty belief resulted in the rise of Reaganomic economic theories, which have never ceased to hold sway over our national political debate, Krugman said, despite evidence that they do not lead to increased prosperity.

The reason why public sector workers earn more than the typical American, Krugman added, is because so many public sector workers are teachers, and teachers are more highly-educated than the average American. Even so, teachers continue to earn less than similarly-educated workers in the private sector.

more . . . http://www.danagoldstein.net/dana_goldstein/2011/07/krugman-to-teachers-union-youre-not-to-blame-for-the-economic-crisis.html

[MichiganVote]

1. Imagine, once teachers were valued so much that we placed one on the Space Shuttle.

Hard to believe that ever happened. The promotion of education, of striving for something great, of celebrating the importance of learning was embodied in the placement of the teacher in space program.

Today. given the values our government really has, we'd have to place a Blackwater mercenary, a Wall St. hedge fund speculator, a few people who like to torture or maybe a payday lender on the Shuttle.

Our decline as a society and as an economic power will always match the degree to which we define and value our teachers. Our country should not blame Detroit. Our country IS Detroit.

[fascisthunter]

2. Indeed...