Paul Krugman’s Boondoggle
by Chriss W. StreetPaul Krugman has been on a roll the last two weeks. After announcing that America is in its “Third Depression” last week, he provided an encore last weekend, by blaming U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke for his concerns about the evils of deficit spending for failing to increase economic stimulation of the economy. During the Great Depression President Franklin Roosevelt brushed away concerns regarding the wisdom of deficit spending by saying; “If we can boondoggle ourselves out of this depression, that word is going to be enshrined in the hearts of the American people for years to come.” Perhaps Professor Krugman is frustrated that so many Americans have not enshrined the boondoggle of deficit spending in their hearts the same way he has.
Our good Professor just won the Nobel Prize for economics in October 2008, for his theory, that to be economically dominant, industries must concentrate their producers and suppliers into a common metropolitan area near their customers to maximize economies of scale and transportation savings. His model perfectly explained the 1950’s and 1960’s success of the U.S. auto industry’s tight concentration of assembly plants, steel foundries and parts suppliers in and around the city of Detroit; and within one days delivery to the bulk of their big city customers.
But Krugman’s theory of economic dominance through concentration has been rendered meaningless by modern supply chain management revolution that interconnects competitive vendors from across the globe. China has a massive balance of payments surplus because they can competitively ship products 10,000 miles to Detroit and beat local parts manufacturers on price and quality. Just nine months after our Nobel Laureate picked up his $1.8 million check and Norwegian hardware, General Motors, the poster child of the Professor’s industrial policy, filed the largest bankruptcy in the U.S. history in September 2009 with only $82 billion in assets, but $172 billion in debt.
Professor Krugman now wants to talk about how the Fed must be more stimulating to help small business in our own backyard. Supporting small business does sound admirable, given that it represent 99.7 percent of all the nation’s employers and employs 51% of the 130 million Americans working today.
But as the chart above demonstrates, courtesy of the Heritage Foundation, our government has already gone all-in with deficit spending. Since Professor Krugman was bestowed Nobel credibility, the U.S. Federal Government has run a $3.2 trillion dollar spending deficit that is on track to grow to $5 trillion dollars by 2012. For that amount of money we, the taxpayers, could have avoided the cost of bailing out GM and bought a brand new Chevy Impala for every working person in America. If we had a little more patience, in two more years we could be handing every employed person in the country the keys to a fully equipped Cadillac CTS. If Congress had spent its trillions of stimulus dollars to buy all those new cars, it might have done wonders to rescue Mr. Krugman’s ailing economic theories, but most deficit spending was actually boondoggled away through political earmarks.
The American public is suspicious that eventually they will have to pay for all this dubious deficit spending. They have read the headlines about how the rich will be soaked with the largest tax increase in American history; including big increases in the top rates for income, capital gains, dividends, and revival of the “death tax”. But most Americans know that when tax rates go up, the rich have the flexibility to simply adjust their investments and spending to generate more tax free income and avoid paying taxes.
When the government’s smoke and mirrors come back into focus, middle class Americans believe they will be stuck with the bill to pay the for boondoggle deficit spending that so far seems to have only rescued the politically powerful, such as Goldman Sachs.
Americans have given government massive deficit spending a chance to work its magic, and they are dissatisfied with the results. Unemployment is near double-digit rates, homes are depreciating in value, healthcare costs are about to skyrocket and they lack savings and income security for their future. It is time for Professor Krugman to learn from history, deficit spending was a boondoggle in the 1930’s and it has been a boondoggle in this cycle.
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50 Comments
Krugman is a Keyesian Klone, 'nuff said.
The USA is big enough to trade with itself and throw out the global marketpace all together…but the crooked politicians,billionares(think Warren Buffet making "green" cars in China),CEOs,stock market manipulating corporations, and greedy manufacturing companies that have gone off-shore since the 1950's won't have a thing to do with it! We could be making our own non-toxic goods and food, and saving the environment right here, but no, we have to help the rest of the world produce crap and pollution for our consumption….end of rant!
krugman,gore,obamasoros, all award winners and h.clinton is in Afganastan holy cow!!!!!!!!!!!
krugman is another reason (obama, arafat, carter, gore) that the nobel prize is meaningless. at least when it comes to some categories.
We should start a movement to change the word "boondoggle" to "Krugdoggle," to reflect the persistent pro-government-racket position of the left's favorite economist!
No mention of the "death by a thousand demand strikes" methodology employed by the UNIONS to strangle profitability and adaptability of US manufacturing giants.
PS: UNIONS even 'out-source' their 'protestor' jobs to below minimum wage unemployed because they cannot rally their rank and file.
Our precedent won the Nobel Prize for "not being named Bush".
So far in his life he's accomplished not one damn thing on merit.
Thanks to the immediate and behind closed door and non transparent meetings with this administration, we will NEVER know what would have happened to GM if the government had not intervened and committed tax payer’s money to buy a company for their Union constituency. We not only don’t have a clue how much in debt they actually were, and we don’t know ANY details as to who is in charge of GM, or what would be a gauge for supposed success.____We will never know if the bottom falling out of our economy would have allowed investors sitting in the side wings waiting for their chance at buying out competitors and replacing economic shifts without committing fraudulent acts of confiscatory manipulation of the markets.____What we do know is that these bastions of all things government have split this nation into a festering monster ready to explode. We are not the ignoramus fools and sheeple they wish for us to be…. Man has an inherent need to be free and it doesn’t matter what this overpaid professor of economics’ has to say.__
In my mind the Nobel ceased to have any credibility decades ago when it gave the award to Arafat.
It is nothing more than the "Oscar's" for progessives.
Mr. Krugman, give back your award, you do not deserve it.
Given the exalted company that has been recently given this once-prestigious award, I have to disagree with you completely. He 100% absolutely deserves his "Liberal Icon of Elitism, Hypocrisy, and I am not Bush Persons of Magnitude" award.
What we really need to do is convince the public that the Nobel Prize is 10 pounds of garbage in a 5 pound sack.
Doesn't he bank on economic crisis just like Soros?
We have a festival in town, so there are barely any shoppers in the food chain Safeway. I got inot a conversation with a few employees today who were moaning about the the new taxes here in WA state on stuff like water/wine/smokes/candy etc. I asked them if they were unionized -YES- and then asked them when was the last time any of you got a pay raise. Only when the union does a collective bargining agreement they said. Usually once a year for a teeny raise anounting to nothing.
I told them do you think Safeway can afford to give you a decent raise if it has to pay the Union almost twice as much as you make ( for your body) and the rest goes into the Union coffers for political reason? Think about it.
None of them even knew what the Union did or how it operated. Unbelievable that so many people don't know anything about what they sign up for.
I'm a carpenter and even I could give you examples of why his nobel prize winning theory is bogus. How people get into a position of power is beyond me and common sense is not that common.
You would think by now that the public at large would have figured out that Krugman is an absolutely worthless piece of human flotsam. Oh, wait, my mistake. If the declining circulation of that rag that prints his drivel is any indication, the smart people already have figured it out! Kudos to you, Paul Krugman. I never would have believed your Alinsky-esque tactics of infiltration would have destroyed the newspapers so quickly. No wonder libs love you. Way to take out that evil corporation.
Geez, don't you count vacations and golf accomplishments? /sarc
So what that lunatic-left krugman got a Nobel Prize. Didn't the fact that "You Lie!" hussein got one show how totally meaningless the prize has become?
Ah Krugman is not stupid. He is just evil. You think he doesn't *know* what he is advocating took the 30's recession and converted it into a depression lasting 15 years (until it was saved by the war)? That's exactly he and Obama and the Left want. To crush. To destroy america. One thing we all must understand. These people have been working for this for generations. It didn't happen overnight. And they *know* exactly what they are doing. Until we come to grips with this fundamental truth, there is no effective way to fight them. Just like we decry Left's unwillingness to name Islamist/Jihadists as our foreign enemy, I decry the Right's unwillingness, or even foolishness, in not recognizing this fundamental fact. Until you can name the enemy, name him as such, we will be shooting in the dark with empty cartridges. If we DO all recognize and acknowledge it openly from the rooftop, actual fighting this enemy is very easy. Like 'satan' from the Bible, the biggest strength of the Left is that normal people are just too normal to believe that such an evil can/does exist. Well, folks, it does exist, and it has captured the castle, and now it is coming after the plebians, while the soldiers defending the castle prevaricate and 'forge a dialog' with the enemy, and work, "bipartisanly'. Some soldiers and even plebians, also think that they can pursuade the enemy to leave the kingdom alone. Some are also deluded so much that they believe they can fight the enemy by waving the kingdom's Constitution in his face. Some are so totally delusional that they think they are going to stop the enemy by voting at an election. The worst delusional of the plebians actually think that they can gather at the castle gate for one day, scream slogans of liberty and freedom and such, and then go back to their little huts, and lo and behold, the enemy will stop enslaving them, and voluntarily leave the castle. As they say in Hollywood movies, "We don't have TIME to f***k around. We must do something, and do it yesterday!" Wake up america, let history not say that America was enslaved while americans chanted slogans on damn Twitter.
"we will never know what would have happened to GM if…………….."
Studebaker
Hudson
Etc
Of course these Co's went broke before the advent of UNIONS,
in other words, they were NOT too big to fail.
GOOD POINT!
DUMBASSES !
once upon a time we didn't need to worry about our fellow man, if he was an ignoramus fool who
wished to subject himself to the oppression of a union, so be it. Now we see that we should have
been in all out attack mode against the unions since………..forever. What were we thinking?
Krugman looks like a wet rat . . . ..
Reciept of a modern day Nobel prize has become a burdensome mantle of incompetence, ideological blindness, and the ability to find innovative new ways of being overwhelmingly wrong.
disclaimer on future job advertisements : "Nobel laureates need not apply."
Protectionism has caused two world wars, this concept is nothing but trouble and the most expedient path to another chaotic murderous conflagration.
Reread your history this is BIG trouble.
Yes, he does. The categories of the Nobel that involve theory and conjecture and have no factual proof are populated with Progressive Liberals. They can't mess with chemistry, physics, math, medicine,etc……..too many proofs. They dismiss proof, if it doesn't fit their world view .
The results: Barry, Al and this worthless POS.
The "Bush tax cuts that only benefited the rich" were also inclusive of the "little people". To wit, the 10% tax rate goes away and the now newly "rich" po folks will have a 15% tax burden. And every other tax rate goes up also. I don't know how this will affect the "earned income" tax that pays people that don't make "enough" money. I don't know why conservatives aren't making this point now.
HEY! Wet rats are waaaay more intelligent and waaaay better looking than this DoucheBag!
( I think they're better at math, too )
You are appealing to what I think may be Conservatives worst fear; that the elections will not matter. I disagree completely, as honest and legal elections ARE the only civilized way to get America back. The left is counting on voter apathy as it will be the only salvation for them at this point. Too many Americans have seen the liberal handwriting on the wall and will get out and vote the nutbags out of office/ then repeal the junk acts/laws.
If conservatives fail this time around, then you will indeed be seeing the Second American Revolution come about. I think that could in fact happen. Scary for the Progressives I would think. Either way, whatever happens in November, we will see big changes.
P.S. since I don't recognize you, I will assume you are not a troll and just a very disappointed American.
A graying wet rat
I am no economist, but it goes against common sense that government borrowing and spending can create prosperity. If it did, we would have a constant boom since the government constantly borrows and spends more that it has.
The great thing about being a Liberal Progressive is that you can be wrong about everything and still be seen as some type of wise sage and even win a Nobel prize.
The Nobel prize is a joke. A bunch of Leftist Marxist giving each other prizes. MARXIST=DEMOCRATS=TERRORIST All the same. Ask the Marxist Obama.
The Great Depression was not caused by the 1929 stock market crash; in fact by mid-1930 the economy was in recovery. The Great Depression was caused by the insanely stupid protectionist Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. NO sane economist- not even Krugman, who isn't sane- advocates protectionism. It's like treating a nosebleed with a neck-tourniquet.
"greedy manufacturing companies that have gone off-shore since the 1950's"
No, they were CHASED offshore by greedy unions.
I can't afford a vacation thanks to his economy.
And the dependent child exemption drops from $2000 to $500. The Bush tax cutes "for the rich" are just more lying Leftist agitprop.
That is the evil thing about Soros, besides his support for leftist totalitarianism…. He is an economic bottom feeder. He always bets AGAINST the market and economy, and spends his cash supporting politicians that make him rich by causing economic ruin.
In a nutshell, Paul Krugman won't admit that the present Progressive/Socialists Keynesian (stimulus package) economics are a massive failure, and for this country to survive, should return to the Austrian model. Plus the government MUST get out of the way of the small businessman/woman. And especially get out of the banking, insurance, housing, Wall Street, energy, and automotive businesses. Repeal the Jimmy Carter 1977 Community Reinvestment Act, and all Clinton Amendments thereof. Simply, divest GSEs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It doesn't take any special schooling, rocket science, or Nobel prizes to figure out the un-Constitutional financial mess the Progressive democrats have created.
STOP SOCIALISM, BUY A FORD
This is just an incestuous circle of people, liberals and their meaningless prizes like the Nobel. Heaven forbid that they first would have to prove themselves before the party hats, awards and money are distributed. They will not see this mistake and they will keep giving these awards to themselves until the cows come home.
Sorry but elections are like electing a new captain of the Titanic after it hit the iceberg.
We should make a new prize called the "I did not win the Nobel Prize" prize.
Is there an Ivy Leaguer in public life that has not screwed-up America?
I'm serious cos I can't think of one.
These are the same people who gave Oblabla his prize for not being Bush! No wonder they give this clown one for doing a book report on the 1950's Detriot economic model. I wonder when they are giving out one for the creation of fire? They gave Big Al one for noting that the earths temperature varies too almost forgot!
As far as forward looking economic's Oblabla and Krugman are clueless. The FDR recovery model (that they embrace) took 9 years and finally WWII to end the great depression wonder what it'll take to end the Bush/Oblabla depression?
GRUBMAN is an Ivy Leaguer?! Well, hell, no wonder he's such an idiot.
I personally rate all Ivy League schools as woefully substandard. Their graduates can neither perform simple math, communicate effectively nor sustain complex thought patterns.
Pity. They used to be decent educational institutions. Now, they're community colleges with massive trust funds.
The idea is to provide MODERATE protectionism in-line with COMMON sense. The idea is not to shock the system but to provide much needed corrections to obviously defective trade policy, trade policy that is essentially a Marxist wealth redistributionist scheme that only favors outside suppliers to the detriment of American industrial capabilities.
Karl Marx was in favor of free trade and that should be very telling to anyone regarding what the Marxist Bureaucrats have really been doing in Washington
Krugman is not stupid. He is evil. He will use all the passion he can muster to peddle socialist lies and he knows they won't benefit /america but will hopefully bolster his friends.
When he lies, he knows he is lying and using lies to push the agenda.
I am not only an economist, I became a psychologist befor changing to economics.
I'm surprised by almost every comment made here to repudiate Dr Krugman and his work. On every call of any significance the man has been dead on…dead on to the banking collapse – he called it…dead on for more stimulus…dead on for the double dip…and now probably dead on the the Big D.
Where did all of you get your Ph.D's? Where are you esteemed professors? And since you devalue the merit of winning a Nobel, where are yours?
Sorry, my money is on this man. Whether or not he is on the Left, he is Right…
With a 3.2 trillion dollar deficit since Paul received the Nobel, and 2.5 milion jobs created or saved, that is $1,280,000 per job created.
Or, to be fair, lets go with the $420 billion of the so-called stimulus passed 15 months ago. That is $168,000 per job created in the last 18 months since the monstrosity passed through the lower tract in congress.
I say, bully for Paul. I am ashamed to say how small I feel standing in the shadow of his towering intellect. $1.2 million in deficit spending per job. Nice going.
Best,
Lazy Jack
http://www.thanksforthelaughs.wordpress.com
Interesting read by Lynn Tilton;
http://www.businessinsider.com/lynn-tilton-dark-d...
"Is there an Ivy Leaguer in public life that has not screwed-up America?
I'm serious cos I can't think of one. "
Here's one I recently discovered….
Interesting read by Lynn Tilton who is an Ivy Leaguer. Google her.
http://www.businessinsider.com/lynn-tilton-dark-d....
Latest nobel prize winners; krugman, gore, obama. Hmm, maybe it's not such a prestigious award after all!
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