An Open Letter to Paul Krugman
Okay, I'll admit it: I'm no economist. but most of Krugman's NY Times riffing has left me with the same conclusion I get when I inspect any "academic" pontificating on their "specialty." IE: They don't know squat.
I learned about economics by spending a decade or so in the trading pits of the NY Commodity Exchange, NOT the paper casinos over on Wall Street, but the place where real stuff was on the table. The place where the weather report counted more than some jack-ass "analyst" prediction was reason to immediately freak out.
(SIDEBAR: "analyst"..."anal/cyst")
Ignore the spelling...you get the point.
Krugman is a stupid bastard child of a totally berefit ideology that believes the way to make the American economy hum is to get the Congress's hands wrist deep in every possible pie. That is just nuts.
Case in point: In the late Seventies/Early Eighties a couple a yahoos from Texas tried to corner the silver market...DO YOU GET THAT? No more rings. No more bling-bling, and they were doing most of their work on margin. The market saw what they were up to and said, collectively, "You wanna play? You gotta pay." And we jacked the rates on ALL of us.

Margin requirements were tightened and the Hunt Brothers (and Bache Halsey Stuart Shields) got their asses reamed.

Unless you are Wall Whore (male/babe), you never heard of the brothers or the company that went down in flames.
but your credit card did.