Paul Krugman: Big Fiscal Phonies

Paul Krugman (Getty Images)

The New York Times:

Quick quiz: What’s a good five-letter description of Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey, that ends in “y”?

Read the whole story at The New York Times

Comments

[rshrink]

01:20 AM on 05/31/2012

Romney is a phony, calling himself a "success." He made his money be causing others to fail. That is modern day thievery, which is obviously now acceptable. Romney and the billionaires who support him have recreated the old west without reasonable laws. He who "succeeds" does so by being the most corrupt, the most entitled and a willingness to cause the suffering of others to obtain this so-called success.

[the pariah]

12:05 AM on 05/30/2012

Krugman is a career College Professor, consider the source.

[Abnormal Wrench]

06:35 AM on 05/30/2012

So nothing he could say is worth considering?

Ever heard of the word 'fallacy'?

[the pariah]

08:49 AM on 05/30/2012

I never said that. He just keeps saying the same thing over and over. His approach is not what built this country. There are some adjustments needed but he advocates a dramatic shift to a government based economy. Bad idea, his ideas are unproven and the government has proven time and time again they are inefficient.

[Ice4you]

02:41 PM on 05/30/2012

That's the best you got. Krugman is still right on the money.

[the pariah]

12:01 PM on 05/31/2012

Krugman has never run a business, met a payroll, hired or fired people, had a budget, dealt with government interference, etc, etc. He reads and writes books, what a great body of economic experience.

[Wallstreet Government]

12:20 PM on 05/29/2012

Paul Krugman is clueless. The stimulus only works for the short term. You can't keep borrowing money from China in order to create government jobs. You liberals need to get educated on how capitalism and the free market work. You're pretty clueless on this. And the ridiculous liberal stance that every rich person is a bad guy and must pay higher taxes is asinine. Sure there's rich trash like the CEOs that got millions in bonuses while their companies went busted, but that's cronyism, and that was the governments fault, they're the ones who bailed those CEOs out. So start direct your anger at the government where the real problem lies, not the 1%.

[morbius]

12:01 AM on 05/30/2012

No... you are clueless. Most of the money borrowed is in the form of treasury bonds BOUGHT BY US INVESTORS. Only 17% is owned by foreign investors. Do your homework and stop listening to Fox.

[miket23]

12:56 PM on 05/30/2012

Be careful who you call clueless. The biggest purchaser of US debt is the Federal Reserve which literally prints new money to buy them. Those are NOT US investors and they do it to manipulate markets and financial asset values as well (eg Operation Twist). Also, intragovernmental holdings (eg Social Security) are major holders. China and Japan together hold over $2trillion. They are not insignificant creditors.

No individual investor in their right mind would buy US Treasury bonds. You have to go out nearly 20 years on the treasury curve to yield 2%. With core inflation over 3%, that means you LOSE money by locking up your money for 20 years. Wow! Where do I sign up for that?!

[rshrink]

01:30 AM on 05/31/2012

If you borrow the money as Bush did, it is not going to grow the economy. It is boom and bust. If you borrow it to invest in infrastructure and growing innovative businesses, such as we have done with pharmaceuticals, agriculture and numerous other types, then one grows the economy, which increases revenue and makes it possible to pay off debt much quicker. You don't grasp the more complex aspects of economics. Therefore, you need to stop spreading man newer and start learning.

[Wallstreet Government]

02:12 AM on 05/31/2012

No, its you that's clueless. We don't need infrastructure jobs, we need manufacturing jobs. Infrastructure jobs are government jobs paid for by tax payers. The last thing we need is more government jobs. You libs have no clue how capitalism and the free market works. But you're not alone, most libs in here are totally clueless about capitalism and actually embrace socialism. And pay off the debt? Are you for real? We're never going to cut into any of the debt we owe, it'll just keep on getting larger. And the government knows that, they even said if we don;t raise the debt ceiling we'll default on what we owe. In other words, if you don't loan me more money, we can't you what we owe you. And when the feds are forced to raise interests rates, its goodbye US dollar. The real crash will hit home then. I can keep going on but you're probably an Obama voter set on government running America and socialism.

[fortressfountain]

10:09 AM on 05/29/2012

In any state where the fiscal bsers are tsking over poverty is rising. I have friends who live in nj and taxes do not go down. The only money saved is taken from ssi and other programs.

[Toonguy]

08:48 AM on 05/29/2012

The "we don't know why Krugman is wrong, but we've been told it is so on radio and TV" brigade is here.

[RussDole]

07:54 AM on 05/29/2012

Krugman has no solutions, he just likes to agitate. I read him when the comics are not available; his ideas are much more funny. We all have a Krugman in the neighborhood that reinforces our belief in our own paths. Thanks for being there, Paul, Keep reminding me how right I am.

[Abnormal Wrench]

06:39 AM on 05/30/2012

So....are you saying Chris Christie's budget practices are falsely represented by Krugman? If so, can you present an argument for it, at least?

Or did you even read the article?

[JustMeinNJ]

07:38 AM on 05/29/2012

Krugman has no idea what NJ has been through. None.
We are lucky to have Christie otherwise more of us would leave our great state. Tax cuts disproportionately for the wealthy? Well, what exactly defines "Wealthy" in NJ. Many of us scrape by on 6 figures here.
Go to NJ.gov and look at our 26 programs for the "poor". Housing, healthcare, car insurance, daycare, utilities, education - they have plenty of relief.
It is time to lower taxes for others here or at least stop them from skyrocketing. He has done that and we're quite pleased. Look at our approval ratings for him.


http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2010/02/nj_loses_70b_in_wealth_over_fo.html

[Brian Gilmer]

10:46 AM on 05/29/2012

I believe he lives in NJ otherwise the phrase "our governor" would not get past editors at NYT.

[JustMeinNJ]

02:20 PM on 05/29/2012

yes you're right.  Princeton. He needs to go slumming and visit outside that bubble and how we working people live.

[JustMeinNJ]

02:26 PM on 05/29/2012

however, he's not lived here long.

[djmarch]

08:03 PM on 05/29/2012

If you're scrapping buy on 6 figures dude..You need to move to another state...

[JustMeinNJ]

08:41 PM on 05/29/2012

exactly. Problem is this is "home". Our family is all here. Generations. It's hard to do. (I'm not a dude).
A house in a decent neighborhood is like $400k. Property Taxes would be over 10k.
One weird thing. We pay less for gas than most other states.

[AlohafromMrHand]

07:35 AM on 05/29/2012

Chris Christie is an American Hero and will easily win a second term .

[Brian Gilmer]

10:47 AM on 05/29/2012

But will he balance the budget based on good public policy principles?

[AlohafromMrHand]

11:27 AM on 05/29/2012

'Balanced Budgets'

It’s a claim Christie touts as a fiscal accomplishment: his administration balanced "two budgets without raising taxes."

Christie is correct that he balanced two budgets, but the state constitution forbids governors from running budget deficits. Following that requirement, Christie signed two balanced budgets for fiscal years 2011 and 2012.

[YLS2007a]

07:28 AM on 05/29/2012

Christie is just your stereotypical great big FatBully waddling around trying to intimidate others. But like most bullies, he's all nonsensical bluster with no substance or courage.

[Roommate]

06:59 AM on 05/29/2012

Christy can be governor but he cannot buy less food.

[Marysdude]

06:56 AM on 05/29/2012

Oh, Mr. Krugman, I SO admire an intelligent pundit who cuts to the chase. TeaPublican economics/budget plans are all cooked up in the same Koch brother kitchen. Christie's is no different. In the end they all come out smelling of the same malodorous bile.

My question: Why in the world do TeaPublicans want America to return to the worst times in our history? To me it seems a classic example of 'suicide by police'. TeaPublicans want our president to fail so sincerely they are willing to commit national Harri-Cari in order to achieve it.

[marshhen]

06:37 AM on 05/29/2012

Hey, maybe CC should start talking about fake alien invasion to fix the New Jersey economy. Oh... Wait,..... Mr.krugman is pushing that approach.

[Abnormal Wrench]

06:48 AM on 05/30/2012

I think he is suggesting that as a global solution, not just NJ (granted, after watching Jersey Shores, I'm not sure if you haven't already been invaded by aliens....)

[nothing2fear]

03:57 AM on 05/29/2012

Thank you Mr. Paul Krugman for an excellent article. I am a fan.

[Hank LoRicco]

06:55 AM on 05/29/2012

Well it would be a good article if he understood Capitalism. For those that don't, get off your lazy asses and go see how well you can do if you do for yourself.

[Robert Masters]

07:41 AM on 05/29/2012

45

[zyxwvutsrqpo]

07:52 AM on 05/29/2012

you're silly

[Mulebone]

03:49 AM on 05/29/2012

What happens when Mr. Krugman runs out of people to call bums?

[Hank LoRicco]

06:55 AM on 05/29/2012

...a wanna be journalist...:-(

[ProudToBeVeryLiberal]

02:24 AM on 05/29/2012

"What’s a good five-letter description of Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey, that ends in “y”?"

F A T S Y?

What did I win? ;)