[lbo-talk] Krugman: "The question then is why."

Jordan Hayes jmhayes at j-o-r-d-a-n.com
Wed Jul 13 09:21:28 PDT 2011


ravi writes:


> I think Obama sees his role as bridging economics and politics,
> facts and values - the values of course being the reactionary
> values that he strongly believes the public currently holds.

I gotta think this is backwards. I don't think you get to be President by being the kind of person who says: whatever the public tells me to do, I'll do it. I think he holds those values and feels like he's been put in place *because the public agrees with him*. It might be a subtle point, but I don't think -- for instance -- if he could be convinced that the public doesn't hold those values that he'd stop holding them himself.

---

Doug writes:


> Summers was an advocate for stimulus.

And yet: he was only an advocate for doing "the bare minimum" -- and Romer says he was a bully, and got his way.


> And he had a column in the FT just the other week calling for more:
>
> http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/b3c143b6-952d-11e0-a648-00144feab49a.html

I see his FT piece as saying "I see now that what we need is massive stimulus; I thought we needed less, but now I see we needed more."

He specifically says:


>> "Substantial withdrawal of fiscal stimulus at the end of
>> 2011 would be premature.

And yet: in *his actual plan* most of the stimulus dropped off in late 2010.


>> "Stimulus should be continued and indeed expanded ...

And yet: in *his actual plan* the stimulus proposals were constantly curbed and reduced.

See http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2010/2010-November/014380.html for more.

---

There's a missing apology (unlike Brad Delong who explicitly apologized the other day), but I'll take it. He should not just be sorry; he should be ashamed.

/jordan



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