Paul Krugman's "Let’s Take a Hike": The Professor Reverses Course

In his New York Times op-ed entitled "Let’s Take a Hike" (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/25/opinion/25krugman.html?_r=1&hp), Paul Krugman takes yet another obsessive swipe at Congressman Paul Ryan:

"The point is that we aren’t that heavily taxed, either by historical standards or in comparison with other nations. So if you’re truly horrified by the budget deficit, why not propose tax increases as part of the solution?

. . . .

And that’s why the only major budget proposal out there offering a plausible path to balancing the budget is the one that includes significant tax increases: the 'People’s Budget' from the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which — unlike the Ryan plan, which was just right-wing orthodoxy with an added dose of magical thinking — is genuinely courageous because it calls for shared sacrifice.

. . . .

We do need to bring the deficit down, although we aren’t facing an immediate crisis."

Excuse me, Dr. Krugman, you're suddenly acknowledging that the U.S. might need to balance its budget? A sea of deficit spending is no longer the cure for American economic ills?

Say what Krugman might about Congressman Ryan, he has forced both Obama and the professor to reexamine policies that are taking the U.S. to an abyss from which it cannot emerge.