Chris Hayesing at approx 8:15 tonight. Hopefully not about Meghan and Harry
Paul Krugman Mon 08 Mar 2021 23:58

Strong intellectual analogies to Big Push arguments in economic development 3/
Paul Krugman Sun 07 Mar 2021 16:47

It's a lot like the reasons we needed a federal policy for rural electrification: power companies wouldn't build the grid without assured demand, and farmers wouldn't go electric without assured access to power 2/
Paul Krugman Sun 07 Mar 2021 16:47

Clearly, then, *Democrats* have broken the sacred bonds of bipartisanship, amirite? 3/
Paul Krugman Sun 07 Mar 2021 14:37

Now Democrats have passed a popular relief bill on a party-line vote, with no R votes even though a majority of Republican voters supported it 2/ https://t.co/TJUlDWIkGH
Paul Krugman Sun 07 Mar 2021 14:32

Just to get things straight: in 2017 Republicans used reconciliation to pass a huge tax cut on a party-line vote, despite public disapproval and near-complete Dem disapproval 1/ https://t.co/trbn8GG0Ua
Paul Krugman Sun 07 Mar 2021 14:32

A reminder: this is a huge step in fighting inequality https://t.co/ntEz0nWl7z
Paul Krugman Sat 06 Mar 2021 19:16

Wasn't quite ready to believe it until it actually happened. This is a big Bidening deal.
Paul Krugman Sat 06 Mar 2021 17:41

RT @nytopinion: .@paulkrugman responded to readers who commented on his column, "Unmasked: When Identity Politics Turns Deadly." You can re…
Paul Krugman Fri 05 Mar 2021 18:10

A quick comment on the job report: who cares? Everything looking forward depends on (a) the state of Covid-19 and (b) the impact of the relief bill. Today's numbers offer no clues on either. We won't know anything important for a few months.
Paul Krugman Fri 05 Mar 2021 13:50

What it says is that interest payments could become a bigger deal if for some reason, which is hard to specify, federal borrowing costs rise to levels we haven't actually seen for many years. Doesn't quite have the same ring ... 7/
Paul Krugman Fri 05 Mar 2021 13:40

If you believe, as I think you should, that we're in a protracted era of low rates/savings glut, this is unreasonable. And in any case, you shouldn't read CBO as saying that "we're on an unsustainable path" That's not what it says 6/
Paul Krugman Fri 05 Mar 2021 13:40

Mostly it's just the assumption — and it's just an assumption — that the interest rate on federal debt will rise drastically, back to levels we haven't seen since before the 2008 financial crisis 5/ https://t.co/LsXVJacEFS
Paul Krugman Fri 05 Mar 2021 13:35

So what's driving those debt service projections? You might think it's snowballing debt: more debt leading to more interest burden leading to even more debt. But nooooo ... 4/
Paul Krugman Fri 05 Mar 2021 13:35

But it will be important to understand what's driving those projections. Some of it is entitlement spending, but mostly it's projected interest payments (I start from 2024, after the Covid bulge is over) 3/ https://t.co/TidMLG7b97
Paul Krugman Fri 05 Mar 2021 13:35

There's at least some logic to reopening businesses, although it's surely a tragic miscalculation. Demasking is policy driven purely by spite and pettiness 3/
Paul Krugman Fri 05 Mar 2021 13:15

RT @nytopinion: "These days conservatives don’t seem to care about anything except identity politics, often expressed over the pettiest of…
Paul Krugman Fri 05 Mar 2021 01:59

Was out of the loop for a bit, but as I understand it the US right is now both white nationalist and pro-Neanderthal. The Ku Klux Klan of the Cave Bear?
Paul Krugman Thu 04 Mar 2021 21:48

But this thing isn't going back to the drawing board. The choice now is to pass it, imperfections and all, or have the whole effort to rescue the economy crash and burn. Please, let's just get this done 6/
Paul Krugman Thu 04 Mar 2021 18:03

So for good-faith critics of the details: OK, you've been heard. If some of the problems you've predicted, like inflationary heating, come true — I don't think so, but they might — your prescience will be duly acknowledged 5/
Paul Krugman Thu 04 Mar 2021 18:03

And it must be done fast. If it doesn't happen literally within days, some unemployed workers will be cut off. Beyond that, anyone awake in 2009 knows that political momentum, once lost, is very hard to regain. 4/
Paul Krugman Thu 04 Mar 2021 18:03

The great bulk of the proposed outlays will go to extremely worthy causes — shots in arms, reopened schools, sustaining the unemployed, avoiding cuts in crucial services, and more. Compared with real-world bills of the past, this one is amazingly good 3/
Paul Krugman Thu 04 Mar 2021 17:58

On (1), sure, you can argue that some aid recipients don't need the money as badly as others. An idealized bill would target aid more accurately on families, local governments etc hurt worst by the pandemic. But so what? 2/
Paul Krugman Thu 04 Mar 2021 17:58

As the Senate begins debate on the Biden relief bill, let me remind everyone of three crucial facts: 1. The bill is imperfect — because all legislation is imperfect 2. Nonetheless, it's very, very good 3. The clock is ticking 1/
Paul Krugman Thu 04 Mar 2021 17:53

Not happy with centrist Dems forcing some weakening of relief plan. But I think it's fairly marginal; as long as the thing passes very soon, massive popular relief will be the big story.
Paul Krugman Wed 03 Mar 2021 18:32