Paul Krugman, "Wasting Our Minds": Wasting Our Time

Read Paul Krugman's latest New York Times op-ed, "Wasting Our Minds" (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/30/opinion/krugman-wasting-our-minds.html). Now read this opinion piece, which posits that there is an economic "war on the young" (in addition to "the war on women, which is real enough"), a second time. Although Obama has been president for almost three and a half years and by now should "own" the economy, notwithstanding the travails he inherited from the Bush administration, Obama's name only appears once, tangentially, in Krugman's op-ed:

"After denouncing President Obama’s 'divisiveness,' [Romney] told his audience, 'Take a shot, go for it, take a risk, get the education, borrow money if you have to from your parents, start a business.'"

Let's get this straight: There's a war on the young, and there's a war on women, but Obama is not a participant, has no involvement, and has no responsibility? Sorry, Paul, but this is intellectually dishonest.

Krugman's prescription for assisting young people?:

"What should we do to help America’s young? Basically, the opposite of what Mr. Romney and his friends want. We should be expanding student aid, not slashing it. And we should reverse the de facto austerity policies that are holding back the U.S. economy — the unprecedented cutbacks at the state and local level, which have been hitting education especially hard."

Well, I'll all in favor of more and better teachers. Who isn't? However, state and local governments are mired in debt throughout the US.

But allow me to ask the forbidden question that goes unasked by Krugman: In today's new world, does a B.A., coupled with over $100,000 in debt to pay for that education, pave the path to success and happiness?

Bore you with data? Not this time. Rather, let's talk about my nephew. Enrolled in a liberal arts program at a prestigious college, he left to take a job in the restaurant business. Some four years later, after waiting tables and learning the business from the bottom up, he is now managing operations at a fancy midtown eatery, and if he were to leave this position, there are another ten restaurants that would be waiting to hire him.

My oldest son? After considerable coursework in acting and movie making, he determined that the unemployment lines would be waiting for him in another two years. Instead of continuing down this path, he applied for and received work with the department of correctional services. Yeah, he's going to work as a guard at a prison. Nothing prestigious about this, but he will be able to support himself, and continue to go to night school in order to nourish his soul.

Austerity programs "are holding back the U.S. economy"? What about what is now Obama's war in Afghanistan, which has lasted more than a decade and has consumed on the order of a half trillion dollars? Although Krugman claims there are wars on women and the young, what about this very real war in central Asia, which is bleeding America white with nothing to show for it?

And if you want to jump-start the American economy, reinstate the Uptick Rule (see: http://jgcaesarea.blogspot.com/2011/08/paul-krugman-hijacked-crisis-paul-heres.html). But by doing so, Obama would eliminate what has become a favorite cash cow for many predatory investment banking operations.