Clipmarks | Krugman Clips

Is the Economy Recovering? The Curious Case of 1920 vs. 1929

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:05:52 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: The basic questions we need to ask here are:

1. Why do economies recover?

2. Are we recovering?

Q. Why do economies recover?

A. They recover because bad investments made during the bubble are liquidated, valuable capital is no longer being wasted on them, new capital is formed from savings, and profitable enterprises attract new capital to expand. Low real interest rates caused by increased savings encourage borrowing, manufacturers use the capital to make new machines, producers of consumer goods buy them, cash goes through the system, consumers see things are getting better, more consumer goods are produced, and consumers buy them. It has to happen this way or the recovery will fail.

The difficult part of a recovery is ugly. Bankrupt firms need to fail so that valuable capital resources are not wasted on their continuing activities. This means that unemployment rises (10.2% now) and business bankruptcies are high. Trillions of dollars of asset values are wiped out.

Clip Source: www.zerohedge.com

By Jeff Harding
The Daily Capitalist

In order to understand the present state of the U.S. economy you have to understand that there are two things happening at once. For the most part they are in conflict with each other, in that one track can negatively impact the other.

Here are some of the economic data that have come out this week, in no particular order:

PositiveNegative The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index rose 3.1 points to 55.7, the third straight month of growth and the highest level since April 2006. A reading above 50 indicates expansion for the sector.Current-dollar personal income decreased $15.5 billion (0.5 percent) in the third quarter, in contrast to an increase of $19.1 billion (0.6 percent) in the second.

The ISM's employment index rose for the first time in 15 months as manufacturers sought to recall workers or enlist temporary help.

Consumer confidence fell to 47.7 in October, from 53.4 in September.

Tags: austrian economics, economic crisis, recovery, fed policy, fiscal stimulus, free market economics, keynesian economics, stimulus, obama administration, krugman

The Democrats have lost the source of their passion

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:00:28 GMT

clipped by: egoldstein
clipper's remarks: This point by Paul Krugman is so true. Many people who voted for Obama, including myself, did so primarily out of hope that his spirit and belief in change deserved a chance to succeed. My candid perspective is that his spirit began to diminish during his swearing in and has continued to dissipate ever since. It's hard to understand and very frustrating...but i think my feelings of disappointment are shared by many in this country.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Meanwhile, the Democratic base, so energized last year, has lost much of its passion, at least partly because the administration’s soft-touch approach to Wall Street has seemed to many like a betrayal of their ideals.

Tags: obama, politics

The Public Option Deception (New Audio)

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:31:32 GMT

clipped by: jatfla
clipper's remarks: P. Klugman explains how it will be regardless of what it's called. Private health care people will be paying higher premiums along with the increased taxes and eventually the government system will "look" more practical and people will succumb. (I think that's what I got out of it)

Clip Source: biggovernment.com

The Public Option Deception (with Exclusive New Audio)

The President has said more than once that he prefers it but will not demand it. This was considered capitulation by many on the left who see the public option as necessary for “real” reform. Meanwhile, belying the President’s public statements, there are reports that the President’s Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel has been quietly but firmly twisting arms in the back rooms to insure the public option is included in the final bill. Even now, pressure is mounting on Harry Reid to include the public option in the health reform bill he brings to the Senate floor.

The public option is the Trojan horse. On the outside it’s all about “choice and competition”, but once it has been dragged within the walls of American medicine it’s true nature will become evident.

Paul Krugman – Single Payer and the Public Option

Krugman Sounds The Alarm On Banks - Again.

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:13:31 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: So who was this thundering bank critic? None other than Lawrence Summers, the Obama administration’s chief economist — and one of the architects of the administration’s bank policy, which up until now has been to go easy on financial institutions and hope that they mend themselves.

Why the change in tone? Administration officials are furious at the way the financial industry, just months after receiving a gigantic taxpayer bailout, is lobbying fiercely against serious reform. But you have to wonder what they expected to happen. They followed a softly, softly policy, providing aid with few strings, back when all of Wall Street was on the ropes; this left them with very little leverage over firms like Goldman that are now, once again, making a lot of money.

But there’s an even bigger problem: while the wheeler-dealer side of the financial industry, a k a trading operations, is highly profitable again, the part of banking that really matters — lending, which fuels investment and job

Clip Source: crooksandliars.com

Krugman points out (again) that the administration should have nationalized troubled banks. They didn't, and the under-regulated, undisciplined banking industry is hurting everyone else as a result:

Ask the people at Goldman, and they’ll tell you that it’s nobody’s business but their own how much they earn. But as one critic recently put it: “There is no financial institution that exists today that is not the direct or indirect beneficiary of trillions of dollars of taxpayer support for the financial system.” Indeed: Goldman has made a lot of money in its trading operations, but it was only able to stay in that game thanks to policies that put vast amounts of public money at risk, from the bailout of A.I.G. to the guarantees extended to many of Goldman’s bonds.

Tags: krugman, banks, wall street, tarp, swindle, trillions, bankrupt, america

At 10% Unemployment America Still Doesn't Have Enough Workers

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:06:17 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: But of course, it's really not much a paradox at all. After years and years of a housing bubble, we have millions of Americans trained in some capacity relating to housing, and those skills are no longer needed. Concepts like this should shred anyone's notion of an output gap. Sure, American hands are underutilized, but if those hands don't have anything to do that's productive, can they really be considered unused "capacity." No, they can't.

And this is the problem with big, macro-thinking. You can point to two GDP trendlines and say "Look, undercapacity..." but that totally ignores the ground level where real employees have to find jobs that they're suited for, and no amount of expansionary practice can change that problem.

Clip Source: www.businessinsider.com

Here's a little paradox for you. Even with unemployment officially sitting around 10%, studies continue to suggest that America is deficient when it comes to having a skilled workforce.

A new survey by the Business Roundtable finds that many businesses say they can't get as skilled-enough workforce for what they need. Remember, we're in the middle of period where there's a record number of jobseekers for every listing.

Fed Governor Slams Krugman's "Output Gap" Argument

Can Someone Explain Paul Krugman's "Output Gap" Chart?

The So-Called Output Gap Is Not The Problem

2009.10.08 Springboard Workforce Survey Release

Tags: economy, federal reserve, jobs, recession, unemployment

Liberal Health Care Ideas: DOA

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:42:01 GMT

clipped by: jay8h

Clip Source: cnsnews.com

“We’re looking at the possibility of universal health care by about 2010,” New York Times columnist and economics professor Paul Krugman announced on the TV show “Democracy Now!” two years ago.

Discussing the plans floated by then-presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, Krugman added they, “are not single-payer, but they can evolve into single-payer,” an outcome that would lead to something such as Medicare, which Krugman calls “the cheapest, most efficient plan.”

Is it?

“The fact is that, in recent years, Medicare administrative costs per beneficiary have substantially exceeded those costs for the private sector. This despite the fact that, as critics note, private insurance is subject to many expenses not incurred by Medicare,” wrote industry expert Robert Book in a paper from The Heritage Foundation.

Medicare is already bankrupting states across the nation. So what’s the big liberal idea of the week? Expand the program.

Paul Krugman: The politics of spite

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:47:41 GMT

clipped by: Lexica
clipper's remarks: More:

How did one of our great political parties become so ruthless, so willing to embrace scorched-earth tactics even if so doing undermines the ability of any future administration to govern?

The key point is that ever since the Reagan years, the Republican Party has been dominated by radicals — ideologues and/or apparatchiks who, at a fundamental level, do not accept anyone else’s right to govern.

Anyone surprised by the venomous, over-the-top opposition to Mr. Obama must have forgotten the Clinton years. Remember when Rush Limbaugh suggested that Hillary Clinton was a party to murder? When Newt Gingrich shut down the federal government in an attempt to bully Bill Clinton into accepting those Medicare cuts? And let’s not even talk about the impeachment saga.…

It’s an ugly picture. But it’s the truth. And it’s a truth anyone trying to find solutions to America’s real problems has to understand.
Clip Source: www.nytimes.com
There was what President Obama likes to call a teachable moment last week, when the International Olympic Committee rejected Chicago’s bid to be host of the 2016 Summer Games.
“Cheers erupted” at the headquarters of the conservative Weekly Standard, according to a blog post by a member of the magazine’s staff, with the headline “Obama loses! Obama loses!” Rush Limbaugh declared himself “gleeful.” “World Rejects Obama,” gloated the Drudge Report. And so on.
So what did we learn from this moment? For one thing, we learned that the modern conservative movement, which dominates the modern Republican Party, has the emotional maturity of a bratty 13-year-old.
But more important, the episode illustrated an essential truth about the state of American politics: at this point, the guiding principle of one of our nation’s two great political parties is spite pure and simple. If Republicans think something might be good for the president, they’re against it — whether or not it’s good for America.

Tags: politics, malice, spite, conservatives, obama

capitalism a love story release date

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 21:10:45 GMT

clipped by: oktundia
clipper's remarks: capitalism a love story release date

Clip Source: aweinonpkz32.blogs.videoproductionhelp.com

capitalism a love story release date

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Tags: capitalism a love story release date

Health Care Winds Blowing for Reform

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 02:46:02 GMT

clipped by: citizenbfk
clipper's remarks: These six quotes in the clip from six sources are NOT from pro-Obama advocates....so their positive statements and/or grudging approval are interesting to consider.

Obama scored another goal, 4sure. Checking with friends and party activist we feel the same: he's got the votes to take giant steps forward and it's gonna happen.

USA Thanksgiving Day now the proposed suggested deadline.

We won the election. We're winning again. Pop for Obama!

Clip Source: www.cbsnews.com

Economists and Bloggers React to Obama's Heath Care Speech

Megan McCardle, The Atlantic

I think the line he’s taking is smart.

Paul Krugman, The New York Times

Now, finally, we have some leadership and clarity from the president. And maybe this is all it takes to turn the tide.

Ryan Avent, Economist.com

Most Republicans are still hell-bent on opposing reform.

James Surowiecki, The New Yorker

I think it’s a mistake to underestimate how much it would improve things.

Gerald F. Seib, The Wall Street Journal

designed to shoot the narrow gap between right and left in Congress. But it also is structured to move through a similar opening for action in public opinion. That opening got narrower over the summer, but it didn’t disappear.

Ed Yardeni, Dr. Ed’s Morning Briefing

might be a good place to start

Tags: obama, health_care.

A Bus Named Gutlessness

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:51:26 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Congress figured it out in about five minutes, as demonstrated by the hogwild porkfest on the stimulus. The American electorate has been a little slower on the uptake, but polls numbers suggest they are getting it. Maybe not specifically the unprincipled, disloyal gutlessness, but the results of it: The American people hate a loser.

This should make it fun. USA Today: Mass transit dispatcher Pelosi, public option “essential” to passage.

Here’s Krugman, one of the most prominent advocates of expanding government … a.k.a “socialism” in the current political argot … in America today, wringing his hands over the under-the-busification of the public option.

Michael Gerson at RCP. Great headline, “Obama’s Crisis: Credibility”

Ambinder, surveying the wreckage and declaring the train to be running on time. Sorry to mix metaphors, but the bus he keep throwing people and things under just stalled at a crossing. Here comes the 5:35 to Naked Self-Interest.

Clip Source: www.julescrittenden.com

Great week for the bus! First Van Jones, now the public option! NY News: President Obama’s health care speech will lack demand for a public option.

The bus pictured above actually is operated by earnest fellow traveling union thugs. On Team Obama’s bus, the big wheels keep on rolling, proud Obama keeps on throwing things under the wheels of his short-term political expediency. What’s that destination on the front? Can’t quite make it out. Palookaville? Yeah, it stops there. But it looks more like a bus named … ”Gutlessness.”

Hang on, what’s this? WSJ: Obama to endorse public plan inspeech.

That bus is veering all over the place. Part of the problem may be the backseat driving by some of the passengers, and the driver apparently doesn’t have a map. Washington Post.

It’s a fascinating route. Vast swathes of the electorate still see him as bold and principled. How long before it finally sinks in that he lacks the conviction of his principles, and also is without loyalty?

Tags: obama, pols

The Awful Truth About The Public Option

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 01:06:36 GMT

clipped by: disenchantedcitizen
clipper's remarks: Good question. If private insurers keep raising rates and denying claims, what good are they? And how could government possibly do any worse?

Clip Source: www.osborneink.com

is that it will save the taxpayer $400 billion and force private health insurance companies to compete in markets they monopolize.

Nobel prizewinning economist Paul Krugman calls the arguments against the public option "sheer nonsense:"

[Video]

T)he argument against the public option boils down to the fact that it’s bad because it is, horrors, a government program. And sooner or later Democrats have to take a stand against Reaganism — against the presumption that if the government does it, it’s bad. (Emphasis mine)

Meanwhile, the $900 billion figure being bandied about in the village media -- the total cost of reform without the public option -- is still smaller than the Bush tax cuts:

Let's admit the only reason not to have a public option is to make sure corporate profits remain high. Which brings up that same nagging question: if private insurers keep raising rates and denying claims, what good are they? And how could government possibly do any worse?

Tags: health care, private insurance

USA: No Change! Obama fast wie Bush

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:30:47 GMT

clipped by: strategie
clipper's remarks: Der Medien-Messias und Heilsbringer bringt eines ganz sicher: No Change!

Das Mediengeschöpf Obama zerbröselt!

Obama ist damit nicht besser als Frau Merkel...

- Merkel bestätigt Wahlbetrug -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt9XE_zMPLM

... aber, wer will das schon wahr haben?

Am 17. August 2009 sprach Barack Obama an der Veterans of Foreign Wars Konferenz in Phoenix Arizona. Wenn man seine Rhetorik und Wortwahl anhört, dann unterscheidet sie sich in keiner Weise von dem was Bush früher von sich gab. Lesen Sie weiter:
Obama spricht genau wie Bush, deshalb heisst er Obusher

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Obama loses the left

It's not just gun-toting rightwingers who distrust Obama. US progressives have lost faith in his commitment to change

Among progressives, discontent has been building pretty much since inauguration day over issues ranging from civil liberties to torture prosecutions, from Obama's tepid support for gay and lesbian equality to his – well – tepid support for a government-run insurance option in the healthcare reform plan now stalled in Congress.

More recently, Greenwald endorsed New York Times columnist Paul Krugman's view that Obama had lost the trust of progressives on issues such as terrorism, financial reform and, of course, healthcare.

And, finally, here's Bob Neer, co-editor of the liberal Massachusetts blog Blue Mass Group and the author of Barack Obama for Beginners: An Essential Guide:

The So Called Liberal Media XXVIIII: Why Villagers are clueless

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:12:02 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Those of you who remember Paul Krugman's often harsh criticisms of Obama during the election campaign might be surprised to read Howard Kurtz's media column which puts him first among the disappointed former Obama cheerleaders. Krugman has certainly been critical of Obama's performance in office, but this is only news for Kurtz, not people familiar with Krugman's writings.

All Villagers aren't wrong in everything they write obviously, certainly not Kurtz, but this latest error is laughable. I can understand if it was a matter of interpretation, but come on Howard, this one wasn't even close to being on the mark. (h/t Atrios)

Clip Source: crooksandliars.com

Journalists are often surprised when they see themselves criticized because they think that they are above it all, but when you see something like this come up in print it makes you just shake your head. Howard Kurtz' newest column portrays Paul Krugman as an Obama cheerleader now being lost over his handling of the health care debate.

If Obama is losing Paul Krugman, can the rest of the left be far behind?

Really, this is who he picks as a cheerleader? Paul Krugman has been analyzing President Obama's choices ever since the primaries began and he was often critical of the then Senator all the way through to his winning the election. Krugman took a lot of heat when he criticized Obama's initial health care plan and he's been outspoken ever since on all issues economic including writing that he thought the stimulus wasn't big enough, but Howard makes it seem like Krugman was an Obama cheerleader right from the start.

Tags: so, called, liberal, media, paul, krugman, obama, critics

Paul Krugman's Deficient Perspective

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 16:42:16 GMT

clipped by: willhelm

Clip Source: cafehayek.com

Here’s a letter that I sent earlier today to the Gray Lady:

Noting that “it’s important to have some perspective,” Paul Krugman argues that while Uncle Sam’s budget deficit is now large, “we also have a huge economy, which means that things aren’t as scary as you might think” (”Till Debt Does Its Part,” August 28). Whew! No cause for much concern, for the size of America’s GDP swamps the size of the budget deficit.

During the Bush years, however, Mr. Krugman preached a different gospel. For example, in his February 11, 2005 column – devoted to condemning tax cuts – he insisted that “the deficit is indeed a major problem.”

So let’s take Mr. Krugman’s advice and get some perspective. In 2005, when Mr. Krugman insisted that government’s budget deficit was “indeed a major problem,” that deficit was 2.5 percent of GDP. Today, when Mr. Krugman no longer is very concerned about the budget deficit, that deficit will be about 11 percent of GDP. Hmmmm….

Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux

Krugman: Heritage Foundation is LYING about Medicare Administrative Costs

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:45:47 GMT

clipped by: Spiritualmonkey
clipper's remarks:

You should always remember:

1. Don’t believe anything Heritage says.

2. If you find what Heritage is saying plausible, remember rule 1.

Clip Source: krugman.blogs.nytimes.com

Whenever you encounter “research” from the Heritage Foundation, you always have to bear in mind that Heritage isn’t really a think tank; it’s a propaganda shop. Everything it says is automatically suspect.

Greg Mankiw forgets this rule, and approvingly

links to a recent Heritage attempt to explain away Medicare’s low administrative costs

Well, whaddya know — this is an old argument, and has been thoroughly refuted. Jacob Hacker:

These administrative spending numbers have been challenged on the grounds that they exclude some aspects of Medicare’s administrative costs

However, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has found that administrative costs under the public Medicare plan are less than 2 percent of expenditures, compared with approximately 11 percent of spending by private plans under Medicare Advantage. This is a near perfect “apples to apples” comparison of administrative costs

And even these numbers may unduly favor private plans:

Tags: healthcare-reform, medicare, paul-krugman, heritage-foundation

Clipmarks | Krugman Clips

Is the Economy Recovering? The Curious Case of 1920 vs. 1929

The Democrats have lost the source of their passion

The Public Option Deception (New Audio)

The Public Option Deception (with Exclusive New Audio)

Krugman Sounds The Alarm On Banks - Again.

At 10% Unemployment America Still Doesn't Have Enough Workers

See Also:

Fed Governor Slams Krugman's "Output Gap" Argument

Can Someone Explain Paul Krugman's "Output Gap" Chart?

The So-Called Output Gap Is Not The Problem

Liberal Health Care Ideas: DOA

Paul Krugman: The politics of spite

capitalism a love story release date

capitalism a love story release date

Health Care Winds Blowing for Reform

A Bus Named Gutlessness

The Awful Truth About The Public Option

USA: No Change! Obama fast wie Bush

Obama loses the left

The So Called Liberal Media XXVIIII: Why Villagers are clueless

Paul Krugman's Deficient Perspective

Krugman: Heritage Foundation is LYING about Medicare Administrative Costs