Paul Krugman is upset by the way governments have handled the economic crisis and he wants other economists to be upset too and then sign something just to prove how upset they are.
Krugman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist, is asking anyone who agrees with his views to sign "A Manifesto for Economic Sense," according to his blog. He has partnered with British economist Richard Layard in developing the declaration for what they call an "evidence-based analysis of problems."
Their manifesto discusses what Krugman believes are the errors of recent fiscal policies and offers points of clarification regarding the economic crisis, including its causes, nature and appropriate responses. "The whole world suffers when men and women are silent about what they know is wrong," Krugman and Layard write in the manifesto.
Krugman has long been a critic of other economists and policymakers for not applying history's lessons to the current economic crisis. His most recent criticisms have focused on those giving a nod to the austerity measures enacted by European leaders. Similar policies pushed a recovering economy back into recession during the 1930s, Krugman has written on numerous occasions.
"It is tragic that in recent years the old ideas have again taken root. But we can no longer accept a situation where mistaken fears of higher interest rates weigh more highly with policy-makers than the horrors of mass unemployment," Krugman writes in the manifesto.
Many university affiliates and others have already joined forces with Krugman by signing the online declaration.
There's yet to be a public response from government leaders on the manifesto, but Krugman's opinions have caused some controversy in the past. Just earlier this month, the President of Estonia took to the tweets to slam the economist calling him "smug, overbearing & patronizing" after Krugman wrote an entry on his NYT blog undercutting Estonia's recent economic successes.