Comments on: The Amazing Krugman

By: REW

REW — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:57:06 +0000

Oops! I thought the quote was from the witty and clever Steve Landesberg, who brought us: “Honesty is the best policy, but insanity is the best defense”. ;-)

By: Per Bylund

Per Bylund — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:44:13 +0000

Rafe, you're probably thinking of this statement, which was signed by 665 economists including Ken Arrow, Bill Baumol and Joe Stiglitz. Krugman was not one of them, however.

By: Rafe Champion

Rafe Champion — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:57:01 +0000

I suppose Krugman is one of the five Nobel winners along with some hundreds of other economists who signed a petition in favour of higher minimum wages. Or is that an urban myth?

By: Peter Klein

Peter Klein — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:37:42 +0000

Caminadella, it depends on the magnitude of the subsidy relative to the cost increase associated with the short work week, job guarantee, or whatever. A gross subsidy may not be a net subsidy.

By: Steven Horwitz

Steven Horwitz — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:01:31 +0000

Someone needs to ask Krugman if he supports tougher divorce laws as a way to encourage marriage.

By: Caminadella

Caminadella — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:32:12 +0000

Probably not. In the article Krugman mentions Germany’s short-time work scheme, “which provides subsidies to employers who reduce workers’ hours rather than laying them off”. Of course there are excellent arguments against subsidies, but they are not the same thing as making it harder to fire workers. And of course subsidies do not raise the cost of labor.

By: Tom Woods

Tom Woods — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:26:48 +0000

Caminadella: The part you quoted about “labor rules that discourage firing” probably covers it.

By: simone

simone — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:56:41 +0000

Krugman is an ideologue who cares little for reality or the truth.

Sad that he chooses to behave in such an unprofessional manner.

By: Caminadella

Caminadella — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:55:53 +0000

Uh? What I read in Krugman’s column is “policies [that] could range from labor rules that discourage firing to financial incentives for companies that either add workers or reduce hours to avoid layoffs”. How is this equivalent to “laws making it harder to fire workers”?

By: The Amazing Krugman « Daniel Joseph Smith

The Amazing Krugman « Daniel Joseph Smith — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:24:41 +0000

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