>Then I get a chance to ask this: "Based on the advertisement in the
>papers for your book, the paper you write for claims you have
>fluency in economics. What are your credentials in economics?"
>
>At first, P.K. is a little taken aback by this question. He
>hesitates, then blurts, "I've written a hundred papers on the
>subject. I have a background and education." The audience laughs and
>claps hysterically. P.K. does not claim to have a degree in
>economics. He does not claim any formal training in the subject.
>
>Ten minutes later, he ends the session to start book signings. I
>don't buy the book. He has not written 100 columns on economics, so
>I would like to know: Are the 100 papers available to read?
>
>"The Great Unraveling" has a column or two about Japan. Between 1990
>and today, P.K. implies, Japan's economy never collapsed. He implies
>that the 80 percent decline in the Nikkei, Japan's stock market
>average, was just normal business.
Man, this is pretty stupid stuff. Krugman is partisan and orthodox, but he's a real economist, and does popular economics writing very well too. And he's right about Japan - there was no collapse there. Stagnation, yes, but no collapse. Who is this "Night Cabbie" character?
Doug