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"Capital in the Twenty-First Century," the new book by the French economist Thomas Piketty, is a bona fide phenomenon. Other books on economics have been best sellers, but Mr. Piketty's contribution is serious, discourse-changing scholarship in a way most best sellers aren't. And conservatives are terrified. Thus James Pethokoukis of the American Enterprise Institute warns in National Review that Mr. Piketty's work must be refuted, because otherwise it "will spread among the clerisy and reshape the political economic landscape on which all future policy battles will be waged." <...> Now, the fact that apologists for America's oligarchs are evidently at a loss for coherent arguments doesn't mean that they are on the run politically. Money still talks -- indeed, thanks in part to the Roberts court, it talks louder than ever. Still, ideas matter too, shaping both how we talk about society and, eventually, what we do. And the Piketty panic shows that the right has run out of ideas. The Piketty Panic, APRIL 24, 2014
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Now, the fact that apologists for America's oligarchs are evidently at a loss for coherent arguments doesn't mean that they are on the run politically. Money still talks -- indeed, thanks in part to the Roberts court, it talks louder than ever. Still, ideas matter too, shaping both how we talk about society and, eventually, what we do. And the Piketty panic shows that the right has run out of ideas.
The Piketty Panic, APRIL 24, 2014
As far as I'm concerned, when Krugman and Jon Stewart take leave of the public discourse, we're effed. Who else can I trust on matters economicsal?
Did Krugman fall for Piketty like I fell for Taylor Swift the first time I heard Shake It Off? Besotted like a middle schooler? Point n'est besoin d'espérer pour entreprendre, ni de réussir pour persévérer. - Charles le Téméraire
Ha. That sounds a lot like how Mason characterized "the mainstream". So you would you put Krugman among that lot?
Mainstream economics had convinced itself that capitalism tends towards equilibrium; and that any shocks must be external. It did so by reducing economic thought to the construction of abstract models, which perfectly describe the system 95% of the time, but break down during critical events. In the aftermath of the crisis - which threatens some countries with a phase of stagnation lasting decades - Minsky's insight has been acknowledged. But his supporters face a problem. The mainstream has a model; the radicals do not. The mainstream theory is "good enough" to run a business, a finance ministry or a central bank - as long as you are prepared, in practice, to ignore that theory when faced with crises.
In the aftermath of the crisis - which threatens some countries with a phase of stagnation lasting decades - Minsky's insight has been acknowledged. But his supporters face a problem. The mainstream has a model; the radicals do not. The mainstream theory is "good enough" to run a business, a finance ministry or a central bank - as long as you are prepared, in practice, to ignore that theory when faced with crises.
And here I was, believing Krugman's voice to be John the Baptist's, crying in the Wilderness. Point n'est besoin d'espérer pour entreprendre, ni de réussir pour persévérer. - Charles le Téméraire
This article is partly a response to Paul Krugman's piece in the Sunday New York Times of September 6, 2009, on the failures of the economists in the face of the crisis. Here, Senior Scholar James K. Galbraith takes up the challenge of identifying some of those economists--the "nobodies" of the profession--who did see it coming, and who have not gotten the credit they deserve. He also points out the urgent need to expand the academic space and the public visibility of ongoing work that is of actual value when faced with the many deep problems of economic life in our time--an imperative for university administrators, for funding agencies, for foundations, and for students.
Krugman's economics are actually very similar to Piketty.Krugman's economics are actually very similar to Piketty.
A lot of people. Krugman is the only one to stumble into a New York Times column. There his job was to propagate free trade. And then Bush was elected.
- Jake Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.
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