“The party of ideas has become the party of Beavis and Butthead.” IdeasPartyBeavis Author:Paul Krugman
“I really think that people have to think safety; taking risks for higher yield is a bad idea once you're in late or latish middle age.” PeopleThinkingIdeasAgeRiskMiddleHigherLateSafetyYieldMiddle AgesBad IdeasTaking Risks Author:Paul Krugman
“I'm especially baffled by the idea of taking insurance against a U.S. default. If America defaults, we're talking about a chaotic world - Mad Max, more or less - in which case, who imagines that insurance claims will be honored?” IfsWorldIdeasAmericaTalkingCasesImagineClaimsMadImagine ThatHonoredMaxChaoticDefaultBaffledMad Max Author:Paul Krugman
“...academic credentials are neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for having your ideas taken seriously. If a famous professor repeatedly says stupid things, then tries to claim he never said them, there's no rule against calling him a mendacious idiot - and no special qualifications required to make that pronouncement other than doing your own homework.Conversely, if someone without formal credentials consistently makes trenchant, insightful observations, he or she has earned the right to be taken seriously, regardless of background.” IfsTryingSaidIdeasTakenSpecialConditionsStupidCallingClaimsBackgroundsObservationIdiotSufficientInsightfulProfessorsAcademicConsistentlyFormalHomeworkQualificationsStupid ThingsCredentials Author:Paul Krugman
“America's political landscape is infested with many zombie ideas - beliefs about policy that have been repeatedly refuted with evidence and analysis but refuse to die. The most prominent zombie is the insistence that low taxes on rich people are the key to prosperity.” PeopleHas BeensIdeasAmericaPoliticalDiesBeliefRichPolicyKeysTaxesLowsEvidenceProsperityRefuseLandscapeAnalysisZombieRich PeopleProminentInsistence Author:Paul Krugman
“Coming up with a good idea, with an insight into the way the world works that is really new and that you really believe in, is a deeply satisfying experience.” WorldWayBelieveIdeasInsightSatisfyingGood Ideas Author:Paul Krugman
“Political figures who talk a lot about liberty and freedom invariably turn out to mean the freedom to not pay taxes and discriminate based on race; freedom to hold different ideas and express them, not so much.” MeanIdeasDifferentPoliticalTurnsPayRaceLibertyFiguresTaxesFreedom And LibertyDifferent Ideas Author:Paul Krugman
“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
“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
“The public has no idea that the deficit has been falling like a stone.” Has BeensIdeasFallStonesNo IdeaDeficit Author:Paul Krugman
“Bad ideas flourish because they are in the interest of powerful groups.” IdeasInterestPowerfulGroupsBad IdeasGlobal Issues 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
