He's just saying it because so many other people (including Krugman) have been saying an equally boneheaded and stubbornly ideological thing: Sweden did it, so can we.
So it's a little of the "rubber/glue" ... but neither side makes sense.
A guy I used to work with used to say this to his group:
# "We're not going to do that. You know why? # Because we're _not going to do that_ ..."
/jordan