I guess that winning the Nobel for Economics means you get to idiotically offer economic advice that is rooted in ideology rather than fiscal responsibility.
In his latest tedious op-ed, Mr. Nobel says to hell with deficits and spending freezes. Being responsible about the future, anticipating the threat a constant flow of increasing national debt poses, and cinching the U.S.’s completely unbuckled belt are of no interest to Krugman, who, in the face of common sense, feels that investing in notoriously protracted public works is part of a many-part plan to help the nonfinancial economy, his inelegant code, I think, for stuff that doesn’t involve money, but that he nonetheless is qualified to talk about.
If you have an interest in economics and take the measure of Krugman’s expertise based solely on his NY Times blatherings, you quickly realize that he can’t describe an economic position without poisoning it with federal intervention. This is because he is a big fat liberal and big fat liberals long ago lost their credibility when it comes to separating economic problems from the government policies and machinations that, like oxygen to fire, fuel them. Instead, like a big fat liberal, he simply wants to spend more money. He’s even bold enough to say the U.S. should do this even though it can’t afford it, essentially dismissing any concern you might have about government’s abysmal track record of fixing anything, let alone something as complex as the economy. Particularly when given the big, broad crayons Krugman apparently likes to play with.
His adoration of the Swedish model becomes clearer and clearer every time he talks about our problem. Krugman’s unfortunate and widely celebrated world view, like those of so many big fat liberals, is a brick in the road to, if not socialism, then certainly auto-nationalism. Auto-nationalism I’ll define as deference to the idea that government is the first and wisest actor in a play about triumph over adversity. Auto-nationalism would not be the same as the U.S. taking control of the railroad system — that was a well-laid plan, so to speak. No, auto-nationalism is the idea that no greater power exists than the federal government and that it has unlimited authority and capacity for solving anything…so why shouldn’t it?
I may have only a Webelos activity badge to represent my intimidating fluency with economics, but I’ll take that over Krugman’s Nobel any day if it means keeping my wits about me.