Live scene from CPAC https://t.co/uDZuZf5Q7Z
Paul Krugman Fri 26 Feb 2021 13:12

One thing that has always struck me is how liberals are accused of elitist disdain for ordinary Americans, yet conservatives get away with blatant contempt. Consider Dan Patrick, Lt. Gov of TX 1/
Paul Krugman Fri 26 Feb 2021 12:57

But only 16 percent of Republicans believe Biden legitimately won the election 2/ https://t.co/vFoybmST1b
Paul Krugman Thu 25 Feb 2021 16:06

Thinking about the extraordinary popularity of Biden's Covid relief bill, and discovered something remarkable in the Economist/YouGov poll. 39% of Republicans support the proposal 1/ Link https://t.co/WAgeMw7073
Paul Krugman Thu 25 Feb 2021 16:06

RT @GC_CUNY: The Graduate Center is pleased to announce a $9.5 million gift from the James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Foundation to @stone_li…
Paul Krugman Thu 25 Feb 2021 14:56

It was a bad theory on multiple grounds, which I'll write about more. But if even the least likable man in America says that we can't let prices spike, the whole thing becomes complete nonsense 3/
Paul Krugman Sun 21 Feb 2021 17:22

Cancun Man declares that the entire premise of the deregulated Texas energy market was a gigantic mistake 1/ https://t.co/AmgzRB1Ws2
Paul Krugman Sun 21 Feb 2021 17:17

Aha. I've just figured out who sabotaged the Texas power grid https://t.co/s5IfeARfg6
Paul Krugman Sat 20 Feb 2021 19:36

Of course, the WSJ's opinion page is peddling the lie that it was all because of renewable energy even as its news department gets it right 3/
Paul Krugman Sat 20 Feb 2021 19:31

"heat"
Paul Krugman Sat 20 Feb 2021 12:11

So it's now looking as if this will be a three-phase crisis: 1. No power or hear 2. No clean water, or maybe no water at al 3. A wave of bankruptcies It's one hell of a lesson — but the people running Texas won't learn it 5/
Paul Krugman Sat 20 Feb 2021 12:11

And consumers didn't just freeze in the dark; many are now facing catastrophic bills 4/ Link
Paul Krugman Sat 20 Feb 2021 12:11

But they didn't, even though the price spike has been incredible 3/ https://t.co/LpX5a6VUQ4
Paul Krugman Sat 20 Feb 2021 12:06

The idea behind Texas energy policy was that a deregulated market didn't require any oversight to protect the system from crisis, because profit-maximizing utilities would build in robust excess capacity to take advantage of possible price spikes 2/
Paul Krugman Sat 20 Feb 2021 12:06

It's too bad that the Republicans who run Texas are now committed to the canard that renewable energy somehow caused the blackout; once you've gone with a Big Lie, there's no going back. Because they really should be reflecting on the failure of a theory 1/
Paul Krugman Sat 20 Feb 2021 12:06

Re: Cruz’s dog: Not saying that a man’s relationship with his pets tells you everything about him, but ... https://t.co/a9cKsAmqT4
Paul Krugman Fri 19 Feb 2021 23:46

Do I have any confidence in these numbers? Of course not. But they're my answer to anyone claiming a slam-dunk case that this plan is wildly excessive. To me it looks roughly the right size — and roughly is as good as we get in this business fin/
Paul Krugman Fri 19 Feb 2021 20:55

That's $1.1 trillion, versus a $1.9 trillion package. But I expect a multiplier well under 1, bc broad-based checks and some state/local aid will be saved. So again we're talking about mostly closing the gap, but not wildly overshooting 6/
Paul Krugman Fri 19 Feb 2021 20:50

Alternatively: CBO's pre-Biden-package estimate of growth over the year is 3.7%. Again, subtract around 2 — and cut in half to get the reduction in the average gap over the year. So if we started ~6 down, average 2021 is ~5% down 5/
Paul Krugman Fri 19 Feb 2021 20:50

That may sound like mild overheating, but you need to subtract ~2% for normal growth, giving 5% of gap closing. So the GS estimate puts us close to but not over capacity by end year 4/
Paul Krugman Fri 19 Feb 2021 20:45

Goldman puts the "output gap" (slightly problematic concept in a pandemic, but OK for this purpose) at ~6% in late 2020. They also predict 7% growth over the course of this year, with the Biden package. 3/
Paul Krugman Fri 19 Feb 2021 20:45

First, where are we now (or rather where were we at the end of 2020)? We were about 4.5% below where we would have been if normal growth had continued from 2019 Q4. But I'm in the camp that says that even in late 2019 we were somewhat below capacity 2/
Paul Krugman Fri 19 Feb 2021 20:45

RT @KevinWerner127: Hello, I've a blog on the child tax credit expansion. In our work for the National Academy of Sciences, we found that a…
Paul Krugman Fri 19 Feb 2021 14:40

RT @nytopinion: .@paulkrugman responded to readers commenting on his column, "Texas, Land of Wind and Lies." You can read their exchanges h…
Paul Krugman Fri 19 Feb 2021 14:10

Personal good news: got my 2nd vaccine. Time to party in a mosh pit! Actually, gonna keep double-masking until we all have the all clear. But it is a huge relief.
Paul Krugman Fri 19 Feb 2021 13:10