Paul Krugman, "The Bleeding Cure": But in the 21st Century Doctors Place Their Patients on Diets

Who would ever imagine? Paul Krugman for the umpteenth time is calling upon the US and Europe to spend their way out of the recession. However, this time, in a New York Times op-ed entitled "The Bleeding Cure" (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/19/opinion/economic-bleeding-cure.html?_r=1&hp), Krugman draws a medical analogy and reminds us how doctors in prior centuries would barbariously bleed their patients in an effort to cure their ills:

"Doctors used to believe that by draining a patient’s blood they could purge the evil 'humors' that were thought to cause disease. In reality, of course, all their bloodletting did was make the patient weaker, and more likely to succumb.

Fortunately, physicians no longer believe that bleeding the sick will make them healthy. Unfortunately, many of the makers of economic policy still do. And economic bloodletting isn’t just inflicting vast pain; it’s starting to undermine our long-run growth prospects."

Well, Paul, this is no longer the 19th century, but rather the 21st century, and today doctors indeed place their patients on diets in order to deal with a host of ailments resulting from obesity.

No, unlike Paul, I'm not saying that there is only one way out of this mess. Moreover, no two patients are identical, and there are many possible routes to the destination. I recall in particular an old Russian proverb that tells us that the best way to a given destination is the known route.

Unfortunately, however, in this instance we are crossing uncharted territory, given the effects of globalization and technologies never before imagined, which have made many jobs redundant. In such instances, confidence in the navigational skills of the driver is a prerequisite, yet in this instance, confidence in America's omniscient president is lacking, and his advisors, confused, divided and pulling in different directions, are prone to backtracking.

Often, I test my thoughts upon others before drawing conclusions, and in this instance I read Krugman's column to Winnie so as to obtain her opinion. Winnie's response was quick in coming:


Next time, I'll allow Arnold, my other dog, to expand upon his answer, which is, "Time heals all wounds." But what does he know? He's only a puppy.

"I'm sorry, what's that you said, Arnold? The economy is stone-dead, and you can't get blood from a stone"?

Interesting. In a few months, this hound might also be in the running for a Nobel prize . . .