Krugman

Archive for Krugman

Structural versus Demand-Side Theories of Unemployment

Paul Krugman has a new post–which Scott Sumner calls “very good”–in which he explains why the structural explanations of the recession don’t fit the facts. In contrast (you will not be surprised to hear), Krugman’s own demand-side theory comes out with flying colors. Here’s Krugman: [O]ne strong indicator that the problem isn’t structural is that […]

A Proposed Apology

[UPDATE: Some people got it in the comments, but just to be sure: This “apology” was a joke; I was just mimicking Krugman’s pseudo-apology in this piece. So if you knew right away that Krugman would never accept the below from Schiff or me, then do what you will with his own mea culpa…] At […]

More Pronouncements From the Central Planning, Free Market Scott Sumner

Regarding claims that China is overbuilt: Yes, there is some infrastructure in the wrong place; Ordos, or the Binhai area of Tianjin. But for the most part it’s where it should be: 1. The subways are under the huge, densely populated cities, where they should be. 2. The high speed rail mostly connects big cities. […]

Who Said It?

Look at this guy talking about China: China is in big trouble. We’re not talking about some minor setback along the way, but something more fundamental. The country’s whole way of doing business, the economic system that has driven three decades of incredible growth, has reached its limits. You could say that the Chinese model […]

Sumner Turns His Interest Rate Liability Into an Asset

I have long said that I would be much more confident debating Paul Krugman than Scott Sumner. I disagree with Krugman on economics, you see, but with Sumner our disagreement is almost metaphysical. For example, Austrians like me think that the 1929 stock market crash was (partially) due to expansionary Fed policy during the 1920s, […]

Potpourri

==> I’m getting ready for my trip to Mordor next week, so blogging is still sparse. I’m really looking forward to posting the YouTube videos of the presentations from our panelists at the IER Carbon Tax conference, especially for you professional free-market economists who read this blog. I think you’re going to be surprised by […]

Krugman on the Fed’s “Taper”

In his last blog post, Krugman is astounded that there are actually economists applauding the Fed’s recent announcement that it will exit its bond-buying sooner than previously thought–i.e. that it will “taper” QE. Speaking of the case that these pro-tapering economists make, Krugman writes: One of the odd things about the people arguing that we […]

Questions for Keynesians

1) When it comes to the “zero lower bound,” what’s the relevant maturity? Scott Sumner and Tyler Cowen are celebrating the end of the liquidity trap, but their argument makes no sense to me: Short-term Treasury yields are still basically zero, and long-term yields were never near zero. But then, if the Keynesian answer is […]