Tag Archives | Krugman

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Krugman does not understand Austrian Economics

The title should be no surprise by now.  Paul Krugman–arch-Keynesian–is once again misrepresenting what Austrian economics is. Krugman thinks the recent financial crisis can test (and prove) the superiority of Keynes prescriptions for an ailing economy. Before we delve into the specifics, consider the alternatives Krugman proposes: classical economics (he considers Austrian among them) and…
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File:Paul Krugman 2 BBF 2010 Shankbone.jpg

Krugman Gets (a Little) Something Right

It’s not uncommon for presidential candidates to tout their business experience, often claiming that they know “how the economy works.” Surprisingly, in a recent post, Krugman correctly shot this idea down, noting, “The idea that what America needs now is an executive type is just foolish.” Unfortunately, Krugman does not arrive at this conclusion through…
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Debt Mythology

Debt Mythology

Paul Krugman implies that deficit spending is necessary to jumpstart a floundering economy, and in the process repeats the well-known “we owe it to ourselves” fallacy about public debt in his latest piece. The implication of the “we owe the debt to ourselves” fallacy is that debt isn’t all that harmful or distortionary because, after…
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Bridge to Nowhere

Bridge to Nowhere

Krugman makes his latest argument with nothing but a few words and a lonely chart which shows the recent drop-off in government infrastructure “investment.” Contrary to Krugman’s worldview in which “full employment” is the only feasible economic ideal, employment is only “good” when it occurs voluntarily under market processes.  Why?  Because working for working’s sake…
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St. Louis Monetary Base

Kontra Krugman

To piggyback on nfreiling’s post, Krugman’s article makes several oversights which only muddy his analysis. First, he relies on the mainstream definition of inflation—a rise in prices. However, a more accurate definition for inflation would be “an increase in the supply of money”—something that has happened at a historically unprecedented rate if the following chart…
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Inflation

Krugman Cherry-Picks Data to Avoid Inflation Warnings

Leave it to Paul Krugman to try and invalidate Austrian economic theory with a measly 3-year inflation figure: “Austrians…were sure about what would happen as a result: There would be devastating inflation. One popular Austrian commentator who advised (Ron) Paul, Peter Schiff, even warned…of the possibility of Zimbabwe-style hyperinflation in the near future. “So here…
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