Krugman: White House Excluding "Progressive-Economist Wing"

Newsweek's Michael Hirsch profiled Joseph Stiglitz for next week's magazine, asking why a world-renowned economist who predicted the financial crisis has been left out of the administration.

[W]hile he may be a Nobel laureate, in Washington he's seen as just another economic critic--and not always a welcome one. Few Americans recognize his name, and fewer still would recognize the man, who is short and stocky and bears a faint resemblance to Mel Brooks. Yet Stiglitz's work is cited by more economists than anyone else's in the world, according to data compiled by the University of Connecticut. And when he goes abroad--to Europe, Asia, and Latin America--he is received like a superstar, a modern-day oracle. [...]

While he had no great desire to go back into government, friends say he was deeply disappointed when an offer didn't come from Obama last fall. Not surprisingly, Stiglitz believes his old rival was behind it, though Summers denies this.

In a blog post Sunday morning, Paul Krugman said Hirsch "somewhat misses the point." It's not that Stiglitz is being excluded because of his criticism and his tendentious relationship with some Obama officials, Krugman says. Rather, an entire economic perspective is lacking in the White House.

[T]he larger story is the absence of a progressive-economist wing. A lot of people supported Obama over Clinton in the primaries because they thought Clinton would bring back the Rubin team; and what Obama has done is ... bring back the Rubin team. [...]

I think the real story is more about excluded points of view than excluded people.

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Comments

[iblogleft]

Lets not let being correct get in the way of making people rich and destroying a nation.

[elr50]

Few Americans recognize his name? Most Americans are idiots, focused on Michael Jackson's death or Britney Spears. What would you expect?

[justobserve]

Agree! Most intellectuals' names are not recognized by the people!

[Jaladeno]

They are just dumped into a generic pile of "elites."

"We surely don't want no fancy pants bein' asmarter than we all." (so to speak)

Thank goodness we finally went back to voting for the smarter person rather than the class clown.

[HMDMSR]

Both Stiglitz and Krugman are free market advocates. If they get their big toes in the front door of the White House, will they hold it open long enough for more radical points of view to enter?

[vagabondvet]

Keynesianism is hardly free market advocacy.

[HMDMSR]

Of course it is. What makes you think it isn't?

[idisVA]

The progressives would have questioned the very fundamentals of the free market which is what the Obama people don't want and cannot handle

[IGGHY]

And that's exactly what is needed at the moment, to review the fundamentals of free market as it stands. It brought the meltdown. Obviously, there's a problem. What's wrong questioning it?

[DiogenesOfAlaska]

And that's exactly what Stiglitz has done all throughout his academic career. And those people in Stockholm aren't commies, you know. The point is: he may have had a point all along.

[Rule Of Law]

Agreed, but I always feel we should put quotes around "free market," or refer to it as the so-called free market, because it is anything but.

[DiogenesOfAlaska]

That's right. It's an idealization. And like any idealization, assuming that it holds when it really doesn't means you're making an error. The result of actions and decisions based on it will then be less than optimal.

[theone718]

That being said Krguman definitely supported Clinton over Obama in the primaries

[theone718]

So sad but oh so true. What a shame Mr Pres, you are much better than this.