Paul Krugman, "The 1 Percent’s Solution": Don't Commit Suicide, Paul!

Another week, and another two New York Times op-eds from Paul Krugman, demanding increased government spending to heal the economy. Yawn . . .

Except this week it's different. This week, in an op-ed entitled "The 1 Percent’s Solution" (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/26/opinion/krugman-the-one-percents-solution.html), Krugman blames the wealthy - you know, Barack and Michelle Obama, Nancy Pelosi, etc. - for the failure of the federal government to see things his way:

"Does a continuing depression actually serve the interests of the wealthy? That’s doubtful, since a booming economy is generally good for almost everyone. What is true, however, is that the years since we turned to austerity have been dismal for workers but not at all bad for the wealthy, who have benefited from surging profits and stock prices even as long-term unemployment festers. The 1 percent may not actually want a weak economy, but they’re doing well enough to indulge their prejudices.

And this makes one wonder how much difference the intellectual collapse of the austerian position will actually make. To the extent that we have policy of the 1 percent, by the 1 percent, for the 1 percent, won’t we just see new justifications for the same old policies?"

Heck, I finally understand: Obama's first term stimulus packages were insufficient to put America back on track, and although the 2013 budget calls for higher outlays in 2013 and higher receipts, i.e. taxes some targeting the 1 percent (see: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2013/assets/tables.pdf), it's just not enough.

But Krugman never studied logic. Even if austerity (i.e., insufficient stimulus as Krugman would have it) hasn't fired up the economy, it doesn't necessarily mean that significantly higher federal spending, which would trash the value of the US dollar, would make any long-term difference at all.

But it's Krugman's conclusion that has me worried:

"I’d like to believe that ideas and evidence matter, at least a bit. Otherwise, what am I doing with my life? But I guess we’ll see just how much cynicism is justified."

What are you doing with your life, Paul? So what it you write the same tripe every week? So what if your beloved Occupy Wall Street movement never caught on ("It’s clear what kinds of things the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators want, and it’s really the job of policy intellectuals and politicians to fill in the details," Paul Krugman, "Confronting the Malefactors" (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/07/opinion/krugman-confronting-the-malefactors.html))? Maybe you can still find a hobby. Get yourself a cat. Don't put an end to it!