Paul Krugman

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

To understand what might have happened, consider what has happened under Trump, with rising hate crimes against individuals without any motivating event 4/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

I wrote that “there wasn't a mass outbreak of anti-Muslim sentiment and violence.” I didn’t mean that there was no outbreak, but that it wasn’t as severe as one might have expected and feared. Maybe my point would have been clearer if I had provided the data above. 3/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

A caveat: the “anti-Islamic” category understates the real total, because there was also a rise in hate crimes based on “national origin/ethnicity,” some of which was surely anti-Arab and anti-groups confused with Arabs, such as Sikhs. But it won't change the basic picture. 2/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

I’m going to do a delayed update on a tweet from 9/11 that sparked a lot of outrage. Before I start, however, let me give you some data from the FBI’s hate crimes database, showing victims of hate crimes by motivation in selected years. https://t.co/GQso0uaFq4 1/ https://t.co/rMFNwEG6UU — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Another run through the urban hellscape of New York. Lots of anarchistic picnicking, extremist exercise classes, strollers no doubt carrying antifa babies, and couples holding hands. Yes, I'm aware that the West really is a hellscape. But not the kind Trump wants to talk about. — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Tort law is, of course, meant to discourage behavior that endangers others. Sure enough, a little way down the road was a clump of maskless people waving Trump signs 2/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Things I didn’t know existed 1/ https://t.co/XpzU5F6cNO — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

PS: Over the past 7 days the average daily death toll in NY was 5; in FL it was 108 6/ https://t.co/njkUwQjytg — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Actually a potentially good point. Aside from occasional denials that the fires have anything to do with climate change, how much has Fox News covered them? My guess is that over his 5 daily hours of watching, Trump sees only a few minutes of fire coverage. — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

America 2020: the president refuses to acknowledge science, doesn't care about states he won't win, and has no human empathy. And that's not a contentious opinion piece: it's straight (and accurate) reporting https://t.co/BIYLDf7ZiD — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

So two lessons: this thing can be managed — in both Europe and America — but you have to stick with it or progress can vanish very fast. Did I mention that Florida — with 13.5% positivity! — is reopening its bars Monday? 5/ https://t.co/JoIolP5LQu — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Spain seems to have made the cardinal error of rushing to reopen bars and indoor dining, while also failing to invest enough in contact tracing. Basically the same errors that led to the Sunbelt surge in the US 4/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

What the NY story tells us, among other things, is to ignore facile generalizations about how American culture made us unable to cope with Covid-19. After initial stumbles, NY not only made the right sacrifices but developed social-distancing norms that have worked 3/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

New York's success story really is impressive. Positivity rates consistently below 1%; it's probably the safest place in America right now. 2/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

I keep coming back to this tale of two cities: New York and Madrid both had terrible starts to the pandemic, both brought it under control, but then Madrid lost it while New York didn't; it's both encouraging and worrying 1/ https://t.co/939ilssJLn — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

RT @sjwrenlewis: Fascinating comparison between Madrid and New York, where New York has avoided any rebound in cases. Differences: NY had m… — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

The reason was that for a few days it seemed as if he might be taking Covid-19 seriously; but that didn't last. Anyway, the market doesn't seem to matter at all. PS: I much prefer 538 to RCP here, but it's harder to customize 2/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

We know that Trump is obsessed with the stock market. But morality aside, does this make sense? A quick, crude picture: Trump approval versus the Dow. His best (least bad) numbers actually were when the Dow was crashing 1/ https://t.co/BkmD2fGrgw — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

I'm not an election modeler. But between the weirdness of this year's experience and the likelihood that the final jobs report will be meh at best, the economy seems unlikely to matter much at all in November. — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

And that will be the last preelection report — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Almost two decades on, it's now clear that the real threat to America comes not from foreign terrorists but from home-grown white supremacists. But you know what? That was true even in 2001. 6/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

And of course the Bush team used 9/11 to take us into an unrelated and disastrous war. It's actually remarkable how many of the media-promoted "heroes" of 9/11 ended up revealed as horrible people. Remember Bernie Kerik? And will Giuliani ever get off my TV screen? 5/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

On the other hand, I groan whenever I see some pundit describing the aftermath as a time of national unity. On the contrary, Republicans began exploiting the atrocity almost immediately — trying to use it to cut capital gains taxes within 48 hours 4/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Daily behavior wasn't drastically affected. True, for a while people were afraid to fly: my wife and I took a lovely trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands a couple of months later, because air fares and hotel rooms were so cheap. But life returned to normal fairly fast 3/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Overall, Americans took 9/11 pretty calmly. Notably, there wasn't a mass outbreak of anti-Muslim sentiment and violence, which could all too easily have happened. And while GW Bush was a terrible president, to his credit he tried to calm prejudice, not feed it 2/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

So it's 9/11. Hard to remember now how large the terrorist attack loomed in our national psyche; after all, in death toll Covid-19 is already the equivalent of 60 9/11s. But a few thoughts and recollections 1/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

RT @ObsoleteDogma: It’s been so long since Alan Greenspan was right about anything that it’s crazy to think that for the entire 1990s it di… — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Also, when the October surprise comes — we all know it's coming — people will be even less inclined to believe anything Trump and his minions say 4/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

And even the savvy cynicism is, I suspect, wrong, and not just because there are a lot of voters who don't hang out in diners. For one thing, the clock is ticking. Every day Trump is defending the indefensible is one that he can't try something else 3/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

But it does sound as if reporters are finding their voices: Trump lied, people died is the literal and shocking truth. Has any previous president been so brutally callous? 2/ — PolitiTweet.org