“The media are desperately afraid of being accused of bias. And that's partly because there's a whole machine out there, an organized attempt to accuse them of bias whenever they say anything that the Right doesn't like. So rather than really try to report things objectively, they settle for being even-handed, which is not the same thing. One of my lines in a column—in which a number of people thought I was insulting them personally—was that if Bush said the Earth was flat, the mainstream media would have stories with the headline: 'Shape of Earth—Views Differ.' Then they'd quote some Democrats saying that it was round.” PoliticsUnited StatesMediaEconomicsBiasConservatismMedia BiasGeorge W BushFlat EarthDemocratic Party United StatesConservatism In The Us Author:Paul Krugman
“These are tough times for state governments. Huge deficits loom almost everywhere, from California to New York, from New Jersey to Texas. Wait—Texas? Wasn't Texas supposed to be thriving even as the rest of America suffered? Didn't its governor declare, during his re-election campaign, that 'we have billions in surplus'? Yes, it was, and yes, he did. But reality has now intruded, in the form of a deficit expected to run as high as $25 billion over the next two years. And that reality has implications for the nation as a whole. For Texas is where the modern conservative theory of budgeting—the belief that you should never raise taxes under any circumstances, that you can always balance the budget by cutting wasteful spending—has been implemented most completely. If the theory can't make it there, it can't make it anywhere.” PoliticsUnited StatesNew YorkTaxesEconomicsBudgetsCaliforniaTexasNew JerseyBalanced BudgetDeficit Spending20102011United States Elections 2010Financial Crisis Of 2007 2011Economy Of The United StatesRick PerryEconomy Of CaliforniaEconomy Of New JerseyEconomy Of New YorkEconomy Of TexasGovernor Of TexasState Governments Of The UsTexas Elections 2010 Author:Paul Krugman
“Programmers have a saying: "garbage in, garbage out.” HealthEconomicsEconomics PhilosophyMicroeconomics Author:Paul Krugman
“The world economy is in a nosedive, and understanding what I call "depression economics" - the weird world you get into when even a zero interest rate isn't low enough, and a messed-up financial system is dragging down the real economy - is essential if we're going to avoid the worst.” IfsWorldRealEnoughUnderstandingInterestEconomyWorstEssentialsLowsEconomicsRateFinancialZeroMessed UpInterest RateWorld EconomyFinancial System Author:Paul Krugman
“as an economics professor I am by nature inclined to the view that the truth isn't out there, it's in here - that usually you learn a lot more by thinking really hard about the data than you do by sniffing around for supposedly inside information.” ThinkingHardTruthViewsInformationTruth IsEconomicsDataProfessorsFree ThoughtSniffing Author:Paul Krugman
“This is a serious analysis of a ridiculous subject, which is of course the opposite of what is usual in economics.” CoursesSubjectsSeriousEconomicsOppositesRidiculousAnalysisUsual Author:Paul Krugman
“When depression economics prevails, the usual rules of economic policy no longer apply: virtue becomes vice, caution is risky and prudence is folly.” VirtueEconomicPolicyEconomicsVicesFollyUsualCautionPrudenceEconomic Policy Author:Paul Krugman
“We know that advanced economies with stable governments that borrow in their own currency are capable of running up very high levels of debt without crisis.” KnowsGovernmentRunningLevelsEconomyCapableEconomicsCrisisDebtStableCurrencyHigh Level Author:Paul Krugman
“However, the fact that an economist offers a theoretical analysis does not and should not automatically command respect. What is needed is some assurance that the analysis is actually relevant.” ShouldDoeFactsNeededOffersEconomicsCommandAnalysisRelevantEconomistAssuranceTheoretical Author:Paul Krugman
“The economics profession went astray because economists, as a group, mistook beauty, clad in impressive-looking mathematics, for truth.” GroupsEconomicsMathematicsProfessionEconomistImpressive Author:Paul Krugman
“The problem isn't that people don't understand how good things are. It's that they know, from personal experience, that things really aren't that good.” PeopleKnowsProblemEconomicsGood ThingsPersonal Experiences Author:Paul Krugman
“People respond to incentives. If unemployment becomes more attractive because of the unemployment benefit, some unemployed workers may no longer try to find a job or may not try to find one as quickly as they would without the benefit.” PeopleIfsTryingMayPhilosophyJobsPoliticalBenefitsEconomicsWorkersAttractiveUnemploymentIncentivesUnemployedUnemployment Benefits Author:Paul Krugman
“Generous unemployment benefits can increase both structural and frictional unemployment. So government policies intended to help workers can have the undesirable side effect of raising the natural rate of unemployment.” PhilosophyHelpingGovernmentPoliticalSidesNaturalEffectsPolicyBenefitsEconomicsIncreaseWorkersRateGenerousUnemploymentSide EffectsUndesirableGovernment PolicyUnemployment Benefits Book:CourseSmart E-Book for Macroeconomics: A PDF-style E-Book Source: CourseSmart E-Book for Macroeconomics: A PDF-style E-Book
“Raising the minimum wage and lowering the barriers to union organization would carry a trade-off - higher unemployment. A better idea is to have the government subsidize low-wage employment. The earned-income tax credit for low-income workers - which has been the object of proposed cuts by both President Clinton and congressional Republicans - has been a positive step in this direction.” Has BeensIdeasPhilosophyGovernmentPoliticalPresidentStepsCuttingObjectsHigherRepublicanTaxesLowsEconomicsOrganizationTradeUnionsClintonWorkersCreditIncomeEmploymentBarriersMinimumUnemploymentIncome TaxMinimum WagePresident ClintonLow IncomeTrade Offs Author:Paul Krugman
“I've always believed that a speculative bubble need not lead to a recession, as long as interest rates are cut quickly enough to stimulate alternative investments. But I had to face the fact that speculative bubbles usually are followed by recessions. My excuse has been that this was because the policy makers moved too slowly - that central banks were typically too slow to cut interest rates in the face of a burst bubble, giving the downturn time to build up a lot of momentum.” NeedsGivingLongHas BeensEnoughPhilosophyFactsFacesPoliticalInterestCuttingPolicyEconomicsMovedInvestmentRateExcuseAlternativesMakersBubblesAlways BelieveMomentumRecessionsInterest RateCentral BanksPolicy MakersDownturn Author:Paul Krugman
“In fact, I'd say that the sources of the economy's expansion from 2003 to 2007 were, in order, the housing bubble, the war, and - very much in third place - tax cuts.” WarPhilosophyFactsPoliticalOrderEconomyCuttingSourceTaxesEconomicsThirdsBubblesExpansionHousingTax CutsThird PlaceHousing Bubble Author:Paul Krugman
“Governments do not necessarily act in the national interest, especially when making detailed microeconomic interventions. Instead, they are influenced by interest group pressures. The kinds of interventions that new trade theory suggests can raise national income will typically raise the welfare of small, fortunate groups by large amounts, while imposing costs on larger, more diffuse groups.” KindPhilosophyGovernmentPoliticalInterestGroupsTheoryAmountCostEconomicsPressureRaisesTradeIncomeFortunateWelfareInterventionImposingNational InterestsInterest GroupsMicroeconomics Author:Paul Krugman
“It should be possible to emphasize to students that the level of employment is a macroeconomic issue, depending in the short run on aggregate demand and depending in the long run on the natural rate of unemployment, with microeconomic policies like tariffs having little net effect. Trade policy should be debated in terms of its impact on efficiency, not in terms of phoney numbers about jobs created or lost.” ShouldLittlesLongPhilosophyRunningJobsPoliticalLostTermNaturalLevelsNumbersIssuesEffectsPolicyStudentsDemandEconomicsTradeImpactRateEmploymentLong RunsEfficiencyUnemploymentTariffsMacroeconomicsMicroeconomics Author:Paul Krugman
“Close the weak banks and impose serious capital requirements on the strong ones...You see, it may sound hard-hearted, but you cannot keep unsound financial institutions operating simply because they provide jobs.” MayHardPhilosophyJobsPoliticalStrongSoundSeriousEconomicsWeakInstitutionsFinancialRequirementsHeartedFinancial Institutions Author:Paul Krugman
“Our popular economics writers, however, are not in the business of giving their readers a ringside seat on the research action; with no exception I can think of, they use their books to do an end run around the normal structure of scholarship, to preach ideas that few serious economists share. Often, these ideas are not just at odds with the professional consensus; they are demonstrably wrong, and sometimes terminally silly. But they sound good to the unwary reader.” ThinkingGivingI CanBookIdeasEndsSometimesUseRunningActionSoundShareSeriousReaderNormalResearchEconomicsStructureLibertarianSillySeatsExceptionOddsEconomistConsensusScholarship Author:Paul Krugman
“In short, what the living wage is really about is not living standards, or even economics, but morality. Its advocates are basically opposed to the idea that wages are a market price-determined by supply and demand, the same as the price of apples or coal. And it is for that reason, rather than the practical details, that the broader political movement of which the demand for a living wage is the leading edge is ultimately doomed to failure: For the amorality of the market economy is part of its essence, and cannot be legislated away.” IdeasReasonPoliticalEconomyMovementMoralityDemandStandardsEconomicsEssenceEdgesDetailsDeterminedPracticalsApplesDoomedWagesCoalMinimum WageMarket EconomyLiving WagePolitical MovementsSupply And DemandAmorality Author:Paul Krugman
