Paul Krugman Hearts Sweatshops
Not really, but then again neither does Tom DiLorenzo support slavery. Anyway, David R. Henderson does a great job defending Tom from Clay’s attacks.
(Sorry for people who don’t know what I’m talking about–I refer to Ron Paul’s first hearing on the Fed since assuming his new post. But I’m finally back home from a 4-day anti-Fed tour and I’m too tired to do a proper post.)
Let me make some basic points, kids, because I’ve seen some complaining in the blogosphere and some people have been emailing me too:
(1) I’m no expert on how government works, but I’m pretty sure Ron Paul gets more than one committee hearing. So if you can’t understand why he didn’t invite economist X, Y, Z, realize that Dr. Paul and his staff are probably as familiar with various Austrian economists as you are.
(2) Given that there are a whole host of people he can invite, it is strategically wise to get the idiotic zombie stuff out of the way on the first round. I was elated when I saw the response of Yglesias and Krugman to this. By all means guys, quote DiLorenzo listing tyrannical things, and then referring to them as the actions of a tyrant, and assume that that is sufficient to exonerate the Fed. Well played.
(3) There are lots of things one might say about Ron Paul. One thing I don’t think we can say is that he has no idea what he is doing, when it comes to getting the public whipped up into an anti-Fed frenzy. I’ve said this before: When he started talking about the Fed in his 2008 campaign, I thought, “Oh my gosh, don’t do that! Just talk about bringing the troops home and legalizing pot. That will make the college kids think you are cool. Don’t bring up nutjob stuff about the Fed; let that be our little secret.” Well, it looks like Ron Paul knew what he was doing.
(4) At what point are people going to stop referring to him as an inconsequential crank in the corner, as opposed to the real movers and shakers who can get things done? He is the freaking head of the subcommittee that oversees the Federal Reserve. That’s not bad for someone who is a goofy old man who doesn’t know how to sell his message (as his critics and some of his friends alike are alleging).
Well, he’s telling people that hyperinflation is coming because the Ben Bernank has “doubled the money supply.” I’m not surprised he has people whipped into an anti-fed frenzy. A cult following often forms when you prophesy doom.
“realize that Dr. Paul and his staff are probably as familiar with various Austrian economists as you are.”
I think what you meant to write was “Dr. Paul and his staff are probably as familiar with various Austrian economists as Lew Rockwell allows him to be.”
Nope that’s not what I meant to write.
Is the video available somewhere?
http://factsandotherstubbornthings.blogspot.com/2011/02/paul-hearing.html
I posted it here (see the nice confluence between answering your question and self-promotion!)
I don’t know, I’m still fairly disappointed with the choice – and not just DiLorenzo (and I could barely care about his Confederate stuff). None of them – DiLorenzo, Vedder, or Bivens are monetary economists! Nobody goofed up “their position” terribly. That’s not surprising – it doesn’t take very detailed talking points to fill up the time alotted in these hearings. But none of them have the deeper knowledge of monetary policy that you would have thought Paul would have wanted to draw on. I’m a little confused and definitely disappointed by that. A lot of people outside Washington interested in Ron Paul have been drawn to this particular hearing, but this is not unique – it’s a problem with Congress in general as much as it is with Paul. They regularly choose witnesses that probably have no business being there.
I think Paul knows exactly what he’s doing, and I always have. I think the mistake of people who just think he’s some crazy old man and the people who think he’s a sort of libertarian savior is that both groups think that this politician who has been in office since before I was born somehow transcends politics. He doesn’t. He’s shown he can win votes with non-mainstream ideas. That’s a politician par excellence. And now, as you say, he’s a politician with power (not to mention a son in the Senate). Some people may look forward to that and some people may hate it and some people may just consider it a curiosity because libertarianism is new to them – but I agree, people oughta be realistic about it.
This did, of course, happen earlier in the week. Did it come up at all in discussions over your travels?
Ron Paul is as sly as a fox. I recall back in ‘08, he asked McCain about “The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets” and I thought, “Why is he asking THAT?” The reason turns out to be that McCain’s “answer” demonstrated that McCain is a complete moron and cement-head, at least on economics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKO7BxNNhMk&feature=related
Ron Paul previously had totally destroyed Rudy Giuliani forever in their clash about the causes of 9/11.
Rep. Lacy Clay will now also go down in history after his clash with Ron Paul’s witness, Tom DiLorenzo. Turn up the volume on this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovvGkBU6mRg
The statists took the bait.