Sunday, October 28, 2012

Krugman and Regime Uncertainty

In a recent blog post, Paul Krugman has labeled what Robert Higgs has called "Regime Uncertainty" nothing less than a "scam." Now, when speaking of research by another economist, especially an economist like Higgs who has developed a good reputation over the years, "scam" is a fighting word, so one would think that Krugman would do more than just write another partisan screed, especially since he is a decorated academic economist.

Think again. As usual, Krugman writes a partisan screed complete with Krugman logic (an oxymoron):
Premise#1: "Regime Uncertainty" has no effect, since business investors only want to know if the economy will be strong before they invest;

Premise #2: Everyone knows that if the government spends a lot of money via printing and borrowing, the economy automatically will be strong;

Conclusion: Since Republicans have not supported everything President Obama has done, they are responsible for creating "uncertainty," even though "uncertainty" really has no effect. But we should blame Republicans, anyway, because they don't support Obama's Jobs Act, which everyone knows would bring back prosperity because Krugman says so.
So, there it is.


5 comments:

Pulverized Concepts said...

Krugman's Oct. 25 column contained this gem: "Indeed, these have been really bad years for recent college graduates, who all too often can’t find anyone willing to make use of their hard-won skills that were expensive to attain. Unemployment and underemployment among recent graduates surged between 2007 and 2010, while far too many highly trained young people found themselves working in low-skill jobs."

What does that mean? That somehow the government should mandate employment for college grads? Or that business is derelict in not putting these folks to work?

I gotta figure that these college grads, many of them with majors in subjects like art history, psychology, German literature and so on, don't have the education that employers are looking for. Maybe there should be a government policy that guarantees every college grad, no matter what their field of study, a high-paying position with great fringes. Actually we kind of have such a thing now, government education and government service in general.

Mike said...

Krugman must be ecstatic! Think of all the jobs and business activity that will be created because of the repairs and rebuilding necessary due to the damage this storm will cause. If only it was a Cat 5 and happened a month or two ago. It would have have juiced up the economy, restored “certainty” and ensured reelection of the administration. Obviously God is a republican. Doesn’t care about the working class to provide jobs a real apocalypse would provide.

Anthony Lima said...

Like!

Bob Roddis said...

For future reference, several of us made the final take down on the preposterous "Lord Keynes" and his relentless insistence that economic calculation has nothing to do with the ABCT or the Austrian critique of Keynesian policies.

http://consultingbyrpm.com/blog/2012/10/money-is-a-spontaneous-order-not-a-social-contrivance.html

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