Saturday, April 17, 2010

Alert! Krugman Forced to Eat with Elderly Tea Party Folks!!

Poor, Paul Krugman. Though he might try to rid his vision of those horrible people who refuse to share his worldview, alas, he is forced at times to eat with the Great Unwashed:
I just had dinner in DC with a bunch of geographers, at a cute French bistro near Dupont Circle. And who should walk in but about eight tea partiers, still carrying their protest signs. They marched in, then upstairs, and sat down for dinner.

Presumably their steak frites came with freedom fries.

Oh, and based on casual observation, every member of the group was on Social Security and Medicare. I guess they’re determined not to let the government get its hands on either program.
No doubt, Krugman will be a happy camper when those supposedly non-existent, money-saving Death Panels take care of those dissidents.

11 comments:

sb101 said...

I thought this was a blog devoted to "Analysis and criticism of America's most prominent public intellectual and champion of Keynesian economics"

It's sad how childish you and this blog have become. Frostburg State should be embarrassed.

William L. Anderson said...

Gee, let me get this straight. Krugman makes snide remarks about some elderly people and that is OK, but when I point out his lack of class, that is a crime against humanity.

I think Frostburg State has more important issues at hand than worry about some Krugman fan whose feelings are hurt because I criticized his hero.

sb101 said...

I guess I should not be surprised by your childish response. So your way of pointing out his lack of class is by displaying an even greater lack of class? Brilliant. You win. You have successfully displayed you have less class than Krugman.

Your response to my post pretty much proves my point. Do you teach 5th grade or college? This isn't a blog about "Analysis and criticism of America's most prominent public intellectual and champion of Keynesian economics". It's about you venting your frustration, bitterness, and jealousy towards Krugman. Were you denied entry to an Ivy when you were young? Just like you do with Krugman, you took my post, twisted it, and made it into something it was not to fit your point of view. So Krugman is my hero? Do you also know what my favorite movie is? But I guess I should be flattered you treated my post the same way you treat a Nobel Prize winner. Thanks.

Unknown said...

So how exactly should he have responded to Krugman's post? It's hard to critically analize/respond to a post that is nothing snippy remarks.

(Although I DO think Krugman has a something of a point about Social Security/Medicare, while I dont think its entirely inconsistant with Liberterian principals to use such government programs, this 'dont touch my Medicare' attitude that some Tea Party members seem to have is a little disturbing to me).

William L. Anderson said...

I have met five Nobel Prize winners in economics, including Krugman. I cannot recall the other four ever making snide comments in print about elderly people, but I guess they were not as morally superior as Paul Krugman.

Unknown said...

Bill, I must admit I do prefer it when you stick to tearing apart Krugman's woeful macroeconomic theories - there's really no need to lower yourself to his level.

Krugman's manner is, of course, awfully elitist. Having attended what you would call a "liberal" university (although in Australia that word hasn't quite been butchered to the same extent as the USA) I'm astounded by the number of people who simply take it as given that progressive points of view are a result of high intelligence.

It would also be interesting to know how Krugman managed to ascertain whether the unwashed Tea Party protesters ordered "freedom fries", and whether they were indeed on social security.

Even if they were, assuming that they worked all their lives and paid ~6% of their salary (I don't know how much it actually costs now) into the Social Security fund, why shouldn't they get something back from government? And even then, how would Krugman know whether they were the "keep yer hands off my Medicare sort"? Is it any worse than the type of people who pay little or no tax, and continuously insist that the rich pay their "fair" share while pushing for more entitlements?

Le Master said...

Yeesh. A quick, witty response from Dr. Anderson to one of Krugman's countless immature posts and he catches hell. Being uptight isn't a prerequisite to being a libertarian, guys.

Unknown said...

Thats why we need more Liberterians in entertianment. Where are the unashamed Liberterian comidians, talk show hosts, actors, directors etc? Right now theres Penn and Teller, and....thats about it.

(Ok thers probably more liberterians working in entertainment, but they need to be more vocal about it).

jason h said...

Clint Eastwood FTW!

ToddO said...

Drew Carey and Vince Vaughn are two more libertarians in entertainment. I have also been enjoying John Stossel's new show via hulu.com

Unknown said...

Point taken, Le Master. I didn't want to give the impression of being uptight, but I honestly do prefer it when Bill picks apart Krugman's economic incoherence piece by piece. It comes as no great shock (no doubt to anyone who reads "Krugman-in-Wonderland") that Krugman holds this snobbish attitude and goes off a holier-than-thou rant against anyone who does not share his enlightened worldview. I would go so far as to say that his (Krugman's) blog shouldn't even be honoured with a comment.

By the way, I made an error in my other post when I said "Krugman's macroeconomic theories". He barely has a coherent theory, let alone theories.