Avarice567 Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I would just like to hear arguments against Krugman's views, consolidated in one thread. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnarcoB Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 That's a big question. I would need a little background on you and your understanding of economics before attempting an answer. What is the science of economics? Is science descriptive or prescriptive? What "ought" people do in society? What is the difference between society and government? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan C. Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Like AnarcoB said, this is a sizable topic to cover. It would be difficult to encapsulate Krugman's fallacies into a few soundbites. One of my favorite blogs is William Anderson's Krugman-in-Wonderland. Not only do I enjoy Anderson's analysis, but I also enjoy the comments. One of the things I find most amusing is that Krugman seems to be oblivious to the concepts of opportunity cost and economic calculation. He repeatedly commits the broken window fallacy in his columns. You can also find a handful of videos on YouTube of Peter Schiff addressing Krugmans fallacious reasoning. I've also posted some of the incredibly inane things that he has said in this thread. One of the errors which Krugman routinely commits, and is probably best known for, is the idea that spending drives economic growth. In other words, creating additional currency units to permit people to consume more grows the economy. This might seem intuitive to a child because a child's mind hasn't yet developed the ability to fully conceptualize beyond what is immediately visible (because of a lack of life experience, not because the child is stupid). An increase in spending doesn't produce additional wealth. Another common error is his claim that there is little to no inflation. Austrian economists define inflation as an increase in the money supply. Mainstream economists define inflation as an increase in prices. People such as Krugman simply look at numbers on a spreadsheet and draw conclusions from that (eg. GDP goes up and that's good). Their analyses usually lack context and are completely devoid of anything meaningful. It's possible for GDP to go up while people become poorer. It's also possible for uneployment to increase while the aggregate standard of living increases. It isn't possible to assess the relative "health" of the economy simply by looking at numbers on a spreadsheet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zg7666 Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 http://mises.org/media/4579/Keynesian-Predictions-vs-American-History http://archive.mises.org/10153/krugman-did-cause-the-housing-bubble/ http://bastiat.mises.org/2012/09/a-question-to-krugman-from-an-austrian-renegade-professor/ http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/dec/04/paul-krugman-asimov-economics "Bubbles, as we have seen, result from deliberate "expansionary" policies by government authorities, yet Krugman always seems to treat them as being solely the products of private enterprise. It never occurs to him that the policies of high leverage and of gambling on inflated asset values would not happen systematically if government were not acting behind the scenes. Instead, he tells us that the only thing that can rescue a financial system is a new round of government regulations."He did have some "predictions", but you should also look at his suggestions from 2001. - lowering rates!?!? http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9n4xrwD-LUQ/TMd4PEUilHI/AAAAAAAABOM/vMPNzEgpJaE/s1600/KrugmanFail.jpg Also "Contra Krugman", by Roger Garrison And of course http://www.krugmandebate.com/ And you can always put some Jon Stewart in there: J.S. Smacks Paul Krugman Over Trillion Dollar Coin: "It's 'A Stupid F*cking Idea" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suomipoi Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Mises Video: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avarice567 Posted January 25, 2013 Author Share Posted January 25, 2013 Thanks guys. This is a good stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jax Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 "To fight this recession the Fed needs more than a snapback; it needs soaring household spending to offset moribund business investment. And to do that, as Paul McCulley of Pimco put it, Alan Greenspan needs to create a housing bubble to replace the Nasdaq bubble." -Paul Krugman, 2002. Do your own analysis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Livemike Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 http://m.youtube.com/index?&desktop_uri=%2F#/menugrid Just saw this, where Krugman claims the failure of the Euro, a fiat currency that had absolutely no mechanism for fiscal discipline, proves the Gold Standard, a commodity money with a good mechanism for fiscal discipline, is worthless. And people actually pay this guy to comment! I mean they're just the same really, except for being completely the opposite I every way I can think of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan C. Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 It isn't possible to assess the relative "health" of the economy simply by looking at numbers on a spreadsheet. An example of what I'm talking about is the recent hullabaloo in the news about the Dow reaching 14,000 for the first time since 2007. The hacks are claiming that this is evidence of an economic recovery. It indicates no such thing. The reasoning works like this: 14,000 is higher than 12,000, so that's better. The analysis is completely superficial and ignores fundamentals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Libertus Posted February 1, 2013 Share Posted February 1, 2013 many more Paul Krugman memes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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