Paul Krugman destroys fat cat Tory donor and Tory "tea party" MP

[Lars77]

"It's all about exploiting the current situation to pursue an ideological goal of a smaller state" - Paul Krugman

[baldguy]

1. Economics isn't rocket science. We **KNOW** how it works & we **KNOW** how it fails.

We've known for at least 80 yrs. Economic crisis after economic crisis, year after year, time after time, the problems we face are created by a very, very small group of very, very wealthy oligarchs who want to concentrate more & more power in their own hands at the expense of everyone else. And their primary target is always the govt - the "of the people, by the people, and for the people" govt.

[drynberg]

2. Dr. Krugman jumps into a RW den of Koch-like Torys, and ...

kicks butt on all by 1st of all using the argument in the caption, about how false their statements are when they really ideologically want a smaller state and are using the Depression of Now as an excuse. Then he uses "data" from the manufacturers own statements in surveys as the reason they aren't making more stuff is due to LOW DEMAND. Why? Because too many are scurrying to pay off debts and not buying widgets. Paul K. leaves them with "Opinions" against his facts. That's just how he cleaned a Tory Clock, no? Another great Krugman point is saying that, NO, we are not a household, we are an economy.

[nineteen50]

3. Krugman is trying

to save capitalism like FDR maybe he should just let it devour itself.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

4. the venture capitalist brought up Estonia as an example?

Their economy was wrecked by neoliberal deregulation, an inflationary housing boom and ultra-low corporation tax rates.

[chervilant]

5. Where did they get those two?!

Disaster capitalism is threatening our entire species.

[ellisonz]

12. Straight off Old McDonalds farm...

Old MacDonald had a farm,
Ee i ee i oh!
And on that farm he had some chickens,
Ee i ee i oh!
With a cluck-cluck here,
And a cluck-cluck there

Here a cluck, there a cluck,
Everywhere a cluck-cluck
Old MacDonald had a farm
Ee i ee i oh!

[FourScore]

6. Why would they have such an imbalanced discussion? 2 against 1???

Krugman holds his own, but I'm not sure anyone gets "destroyed" in that discussion.

[pacalo]

17. The double-teaming against Krugman was so like American media.

The corporate world is threatened by the truth, & the imbalance is intentional.

Props to Krugman for holding his own against two. He was so poised & self-confident in countering their "bleed the patient to stop the bleeding" rationale. Wow, it must be extremely frustrating for Krugman to have to spend a lot of his time trying to talk some sense into these brain-washed, cultish people who are nothing but self-serving people with their hands (most probably) in the cookie jar. He deserves our support & gratitude.

[earthside]

7. In principle, Krugman is correct.

It is a mistake to contract government spending during a depression ... indeed, the government ought to spend more in areas that stimulate demand.

Where I disagree with Krugman is the notion that the U.S. federal government should just go ahead and borrow even more money.

The federal government has gobs of money, but well over a trillion dollars a year goes into the rathole of military spending and/or national 'security'. What we really need is a rearrangement of our federal government priorities.

In addition, borrowing money just ends up being a transfer of wealth in the long run from working folks to the rich holders of Treasuries. If we need more money, the government should print the money directly, like Pres. Kennedy did in 1963.

Our economic problems are secular and will required genuine, structural reforms -- unfortunately, it is apparent right now that neither the American people nor our leaders are bold enough to propose the kind of changes we really need.

[TatonkaJames]

8. I find his view reckless, frankly ?

"I can't believe that somebody as highly credibly regarded could honestly think the answer is to borrow more money.
It's very simple mathematics, isn't it ?" Andrea Ledsen - Conservative

Well of course you couldn't possible think of the answer, you don't own a Nobel Prize. Someone wins
that prize because others believe in his answers. If it were simple math we'd all know the answers.

[Garion_55]

9. wow she was a joke

added absolutely nothing but teabagger talking points that are old and played out in this country.

[Rambis]

10. Pompous dickheads

30 years of the same old shit here there and everywhere- Less government, lower taxes blah blah blah blah blah-You hate the poor and the disadvantaged!

[ellisonz]

11. "I don't know why you're shaking your head, this is a Nobel Prize winning economist"

[non sociopath skin]

13. If the Dems don't want him in Government, can we have him please?

Ass kickin' good, Dr. Krugman. MORE please!



The Skin

[tclambert]

14. Andrea Ledson keeps insisting austerity will help the private sector create more jobs.

Krugman keeps politely pointing out that data, historic and current, shows it doesn't help the private sector. It doesn't produce more customer demand. In fact, it creates less. So it ends up hurting the private sector.

[Canuckistanian]

15. It's a pretty simple point isn't it?

But the other two completely ignored that fact. It' not government regulation, it's not taxation, it's not public sector financing. It's simple lack of demand for goods that's hindering the economic recovery.

[Lars77]

16. The neoliberalists have confused a political ideology with economics.

[Dustlawyer]

18. This is a microcasim of what we are faced with. He did destroy them, except that they

are too stupid or stubborn to know it. They have had low corporate taxes and yet the "job creators" are not creating! They blindly refuse to look at facts and history b/c he is right, they just want to shrink the parts of government that benefit the people, and enlarge government where it benefits the big corporations (defense).