I cannot help but laugh at some of the reviews on this site of Paul Krugman:
"I am not economics expert, but I'm often amazed at the things Paul Krugman writes and, therefore, apparently believes to be true."
- Kblehman, February 25, 2010
Hah, so...let me get this right. You're not an economics expert, Paul Krugman has won a Nobel Prize in economics. Yet, you have no problem making the assertion that Krugman is a "Leftist Hack" who doesn't know what he is talking about? I don't understand.
Some more from Kblehman:
"Like most pointy-headed academics, his ideas work on paper and in theory, but fail miserably when applied to history or (God forbid) the real world."
I guess I should stop calling Kblehman an idiot and explain my view. My understanding of economic theory is that unregulated free market capitalism is the ideal and began as the ideal in academia. Turns out Krugman believes in unregulated free market capitalism when it works (as do I, so please don't call me a "leftist hack", instead tell me why I am wrong). Let's ask ourselves what we need for completely unregulated free market capitalism to work:
- Perfect information
- Equal bargaining power
- The lack of pro-cyclical momentum
- The lack of nominal and real rigidities (you might have to look up the words nominal and real in the context of economics)
I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff, but this should be good for now. Ask yourself, do we have those things? No, we do not. New Keynesian theory tells us about some of these issues and helps explain them. What's the problem with this? It gets complicated, so people like Kblehman decide to stay ignorant. Krugman tries to explain it to them and he gets called a "leftist hack". I'm assuming this attack comes from Kblehman and others because their brains start to hurt when they think.
Let's take a look at a bit of macro classical theory in the context of the current recession. Pure classical theory (the same theory that doesn't believe in fiscal or monetary policy solutions) would tell us that the unemployment rate in the current recession is purely frictional and structural, not cyclical. Go to your friends who have lost their jobs and let me know if their employment is due to structural and frictional characteristics and not cyclical ones. Once you get your answer, try to tell me how your theories hold.
This is enough of a defense on New Keynesianism. Now I shall talk about Krugman as a commentator. He constantly challenges the main stream media and their analysis of macro situations in the world economy. Generally he does this by going further in his analysis than common media is willing to go. He puts his reputation on the line espousing unpopular opinions. I've been reading him for over 2 years and I still learn something new on a constant basis. He thinks much deeper about issues than most other economic commentators I've read.
I don't read comments just from the left, I read them from the right as well and have similar positive opinions of commentators who are more classical in their views. So, no I'm not a leftist hack.
In the end, if you want your thoughts challenged and if you want to think, read Krugman's blog and columns.
If the administration reads his blog and columns, that's a pretty strong hint of the quality of his analysis.
This review is the subjective opinion of an Investimonials member and not of Investimonials LLC
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