I could write a whole essay about the dirty tricks Paul Krugman employs in this Slate magazine article from 1998. Instead, I will focus on just one (okay, maybe a few more than one…).
Krugman insists that the Austrian theory of the business cycle is a pure misunderstanding of all the Keynesian and post-Keynesian economic “developments”. The misunderstanding, Krugman argues, is not based on a difference in perspectives or methods of prediction, but rather an intellectual short-coming that precludes economists like Hayek and his contemporary counterparts from doing the simple arithmetic! As Krugman would say, “Um, last time I checked, income = expenditures…” To make sure his readers understand just how much smarter he is than the Austrians, Krugman informs us that he regards the theory, “as worthy of serious study as the phlogiston theory of fire.” So how could so many serious academics still take thinkers like Hayek and Mises seriously? Krugman’s answer: To relieve themselves of conservative guilt, of course, associated with the desire to pay lower taxes. Read More
Time Traveling Thought Experiment
Imagine for a moment that one of your ancestors from 200 years ago (1810) gets transported to the present day. Further imagine that you take her on a tour of Bill Gates’ primary residence. What do you think she will be impressed by? What consumer goods in the house will leave her awestruck?
H/T Don Boudreaux