Paul Krugman Letter To Obama In Rolling Stone

Dear Mr. President:

Like FDR three-quarters of a century ago, you're taking charge at a moment when all the old certainties have vanished, all the conventional wisdom been proved wrong. We're not living in a world you or anyone else expected to see. Many presidents have to deal with crises, but very few have been forced to deal from Day One with a crisis on the scale America now faces.

So, what should you do?

In this letter I won't try to offer advice about everything. For the most part I'll stick to economics, or matters that bear on economics. I'll also focus on things I think you can or should achieve in your first year in office. The extent to which your administration succeeds or fails will depend, to a large extent, on what happens in the first year -- and above all, on whether you manage to get a grip on the current economic crisis.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[schatsie]

I am so thankful for Dr Krugman's articles... we need to remember that Congress needs to be swayed to be responsible and considerate and that is our job, not necessarily Obama's job...

Please keep up the good work, these articles have been a light of reason/ rationality over the last 8 years and we have a long way to go to restore our country and our working class.

[Fabini]

Well said Mr. Krugman, thank you. Of course I have two things to add: First, President Obama must have a major realignment of the military and intelligence communities. The military must be downsized from an agency of offense with more than 1,000 bases outside the United States, to a military - as it's name states - to one of defense, with our troops and and war making apparatus on our home turf. Stop increasing the U.S. military expansion into other countries. This is one of the leading causes for hatred of America.

Additionally, bring back the intelligence community from one of covert black operations, that is secret military actions around the world, and have it just collect intelligence. Then make your best foreign policy decisions through the Department of State, not the Department of Defense.

I am sure the state militias and National Guard will be happy to be back home.

Second, ask citizens to hold their elected official accountable. If an elected official is an obstructionist to changing the course of America in these times, ask the voters to cast them out and elect representatives who can move forward in a responsible way. No more trickle down, but build up, from the ground up.

Our future is in our hands.

[msjimmied]

Thank you Mr. Krugman. You have put into words all the deepest desires and aspirations of us all. It is an emotional new day for me, I feel a real freedom in the air, the sunrise was more beautiful, there is a new vibrancy...and then your words spoke of all the desires of my heart for my country, and bought me to tears.

[GrainOSand]

“First, let's put the costs of the economic-recovery program in perspective. It's possible that reviving the economy might cost as much as a trillion dollars over the course of your first term. But the Bush administration wasted at least twice that much on an unnecessary war and tax cuts for the wealthiest; the recovery plan will be intense but temporary, and won't place all that much burden on future budgets. Put it this way: With long-term federal debt paying the lowest interest rates in half a century, the interest costs on a trillion dollars in new debt will amount to only $30 billion a year, about 1.2 percent of the current federal budget.”


...and the Conservatives claimed the mantle...they donned the cloak of fiscal responsibility. Now they want to bellyache about deficit spending. Obama has to engage the GOP the way he has to for the sake of being effective, I have no such limitations. Based on this small blurb from Mr. Krugman it is clear (as it was eight years ago and thirty years ago) that the GOP is ideologically hypocritical.

[IndyReader]

To all of you folks who are against torture, every time to refer to "holding someone's feet to the fire" you are advocating torture. Think about this.

[Yermammy]

Go blab that to you're little psycho Malkin chick. Or fatso Limburger Cheesefarts. We're under no illusions here of what torture is and why it's a high crime which will be pursued, regardless of what Congress or President Obama want. This is a WORLD matter now.

[castlerider]

I think I'd rather hold your feet to the fire.

Of course, I say this in the metaphorical sense, because that's all that's ever meant.
Ridiculous to even suggest anyone is thinking of that as doing it in a literal sense, which of course is torture. It means making someone accountable when they would rather choose not to be, which is common practice for Republicans and all the rich elite they've sold their sould to for so long, indifferent to the needs and the chance for improving life for the working class or average Americans.



.

[Agent420]

Too bad there is not a way for those of us who think this letter is on the mark, could sign our agreement.

[anachoret]

Excellent idea.
Perhaps putting up a question on change.gov expressing agreement and requesting comments on it would have the effect.

[ohmetoo]

This article is well worth the time it takes to read it. It is so thoughtful, well conceived and cohesive.

One item I would add to the list of things to accomplish is revamping the GI Bill. I have read many historical accounts that proclaim that the GI Bill did a great deal to help establish a middle class following WWII. Education dollars don't pay off right away, but they would plant more positive seeds for the future we all face.

Thank you Mr. Krugman!

[ritenow]

Wow, what a way to keep your column allive!

[tangelan]

Good Jebus, am I tired of this man. We elected Barack Obama and Joe Biden, not Paul Krugman. Does anyone else think he's a little b i tt e r for not being chosen for a cabinet post.

Paul, is it too much to hope that this will be your last letter to the President? This isn't why you got the nobel, is it?

[Rivermont]

Agree

[buey]

Sounds more like you've got a bone to pick with Krugman over something. What's got you so tired of hearing from the guy?

[ella52]

Simple. Don't read him.

[Christian]

Some always look for a negative and are quick to bite in a personal way when they're not educated enough to debate with ideas and facts, wouldn't you say there Tang? Paul is one of the most educated economist in the world and the more he speaks and writes, the better. He is and will be a champion for the people, the middle class, and I take heart his voice is out there and is recognized. He is an important history teacher this country needs to hear right now.

[Yermammy]

Oh, we're NOT going to change the subject and forget what we're going to do to Bush and Cheney. They got lots of legal problems ahead of them. WATCH :)

[ProudLiberalDan]

I am excited about Paul Krugman's letter and I hope he will continue to tell the truth even if the hero-worshiping Obamabots don't want to hear it.

[dmacgregor]

This is very long but very thoughtful. I really like Krugman but he’s been rightfully criticized for offering only “what’s wrong” commentary without suggesting any solutions. Here, he offers some wonderful solution ideas that seem very workable to me, particularly on health care. I agree our auto industry would have remained competitive if, like Toyota, it hadn’t had to pay the health costs of both its active and retired workers

[NotWaldo]

I don't know much about the economy, but I expect that Obama will listen to the best people before making decisions, something Bush didn't do. The 43rd president proved to be a very narrow-minded leader convinced of his own truths.

But I absolutely agree with Krugman on one point : LET THE TRUTH BE TOLD.

[ohmetoo]

Yes this is a good point, for fear of letting the mold spores sprout into our future. I think the truth about the financial meltdown needs to be brought out into the light too, and tout de suite!

[Yermammy]

Amen, Brother/Sister!

[FDRJFKLBJ]

Krugman is a clown.

If he were a fitness guru, he'd say the way to lose weight is to eat more!

USA is broke, and he thinks record-breaking budget deficits will get us out of this crisis. It's unbelievable that this type of thinking passes for wise economic advice.

[Agent420]

If all you have is whining and crying about someone who is trying to do something about the situation, then shut up or come up with an idea.

[buey]

You clearly don't know what you're talking about. Ad hominem to start, false analogy to follow, and a shallow view of the situation to boot.

Go read a history book.

[ProudLiberalDan]

The only "clowns" are the conservatives who still believe in supply-side economics and tax cuts for the wealth even though it has been tried and failed three times now, each time a bigger failure than the last.

[ella52]

Too one dimensional assessment.

[butters2004]

No disrespect meant to all Obama supporters (I voted for him as well), but I wonder why the tenor of comments have been more "fawning" lately? We are Obama supporters...that doesn't mean we kiss the ground he walks on. We, the people of the United States, gave him the mandate and not the other way around. If Obama's victory meant that we are replacing Bush's kool-aid drinkers, then what new changes can we expect in the next few years? Yes it was the Bush administration who did waaayyyy more than f/u, but we also allowed it somehow by our docile complacency. Not that I don't trust Obama or hold him in the same esteem as the ex-corruptocracy, but we as people should keep our eyes and ears open for decisions that are and will be made. WE have to hold his feet to fire, rather than expect the bumbling fourth estate to do it. So, if Krugman appears critical or less than fawningly supportive of Obama, then good for him. Some of you Obama lovers dismissed Krugman, I don't know on what grounds. But if you REALLY read the article, he's addressing the economic issues that should be on the front burner as we speak. So what if Obama is talking along the same lines? One more voice will strengthen it more.

[allonfla]

You have it backwards. In my opinion the fawning is waning and is now moving to Paul Krugman. While he has good ideas, he does not know all and see all and I think Obama's supporters are trying to make the point that Obama has people around him that are just as smart Krugman - they just don't have Nobel Prizes. We cannot dismiss Obama's people and listen to just one man.

[butters2004]

"I told you guys ever since this dude won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences he ha been on a non-stop publicity campaign. I don't know if Krugman is auditioning for a job or that prize has swollen his head so big it's taking forever to deflate. We hear from this man like every single day on something else. It got worse when Obama said if he had an idea he would listen. "

And many more comments has a tenor of ad-hominem attack against Krugman. And nowhere in Krugman's article do I read him advocating that Obama should dismiss all his economic advisors and listen to only him. What I'm saying is that Krugman (whether deliberately or not) represents voices of many of us pithy public...and such, he has a pulpit that many of us don't have access to. If he's using it to air opinions that reflect many of our views, then good for him. I repeat again, if Obama and his economic advisors are thinking along the same lines, whether Krugman is original or not is irrelevant ... more voices the better, right? As for demagoguery of either one, it is stupid. However, defending Obama's each and every decision, or painting his antagonist in a negative light or ad-hominem attacks are counter productive...mostly for American public.

[Helvetica]

I think the worth of Krugman's opinion has been somewhat exaggerated since his Nobel win (in part, rightly so). And I must agree with butters2004 that the left has been basking in the glow of Obama's demeanor so long that any criticism or contradiction to his authority is seen as nearly treasonous. I think the whole conflation of liberal ideologies is just a temporary byproduct of winning a Dem president and majority. Soon enough our Dem leaders and liberal idealogues will again be the targets of banter and bickering and everything will be back to orange-alert-everything's-crashing-but-not-really-we're-just-putting-you-in-a-continual-state-of-panic-so-you-enact-our-policies mode and the Dems may traverse the path paved by our beloved GOP.

[NWBrunette]

Right on, in so many ways. I hope Barack is willing to spend his political capital, and live up to Krugman's call.

[allonfla]

live up to Krugman's call? omg.

[northstar11]

great plan . many want the defense budget slashed. that means job losses.and welfare payouts instead of tax receipts
maybe defense companies ought to build mag lev high speed rail lines instead of bombs and fighter planes.

[BBackSoon]

Can you say, ‘swords to ploughshares?’ I knew you could.

I hope we live to see the day.