Paul Krugman

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Nobody — nobody — in the party blinked an eye when Trump's tax cuts for corporations and the rich led to surging deficits 2/ https://t.co/iCEM49hAXJ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Gag me with a silver spoon. If there's one thing we've learned over the past decade, it is that there are no Republican deficit hawks — only poseurs who claim to care about deficits in order to block spending they don't like 1/ https://t.co/iDW9XulN1p — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

The bottom line is that all those concerns that we were keeping unemployment high by making it too comfortable had zero basis in reality. UI was helping employment, not hurting it — and the massive fiscal contraction now being perpetrated will be a disaster fin/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

This tells you that the workers accepting jobs were precisely the workers who by and large were receiving more in unemployment benefits than from work. Presumably they nonetheless preferred the reality of a job that might last than depending on benefits that might soon vanish 12/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

And the workers called back had relatively low wages, as you can see from the fall in average wages, which soared during the initial jobs plunge 11/ https://t.co/87tu5SYuAu — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Generous UI didn't prevent a rapid rise in employment during the abortive reopening recovery of May-June 10/ https://t.co/rAbfD9j058 — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Now, the work incentives of UI are still interesting, although of little macro significance for the time being. My read is that the disincentive effect seems to be surprisingly small. You can see this just by looking at aggregate data. 9/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Just to add that the demand constraint is far more tightly binding now than at any time in the past dozen years, because now we have a pandemic that requires people to NOT work. Crazy to talk about UI without that as the central point 8/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

So what happens if you expand UI? It might — might — reduce incentives to work, shifting the Phillips curve up and to the right. But it also increases aggregate demand. And because demand, not inflation, is the binding constraint it REDUCES unemployment 7/ https://t.co/0EikpIga73 — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

And since 2008 we've consistently been limited by the demand constraint: the Fed has almost never achieved its 2% inflation target, bc monetary policy constrained by zero lower bound, and fiscal support almost never sufficient 6/ https://t.co/ZkV8QQBWhU — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

So, where do we find ourselves on that curve? It could be a policy choice, e.g., the Fed sets policy to achieve its inflation target. But maybe policymakers can't or won't do enough to assure adequate demand. In that case, the level of demand sets unemployment 5/ https://t.co/Q476akItjL — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

I'm well aware that there are some conceptual issues with this curve, and also that these days it's hard to find in US data. But there must be some effect of labor market tightness on inflation; clearly visible in countries with more extreme variation (SP's GDP deflator) 4/ https://t.co/PwuX0fLvl4 — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

A good starting point is the Phillips curve: the hypothetical tradeoff between unemployment and inflation 3/ https://t.co/y5TB5UQflc — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

The key point is that to evaluate the impact of the GOP's 🍸🍸🍸 plan to slash UI while making business lunches 100% deductible, we need to do *macroeconomics*; it's not just about worker incentives 2/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

A wonkish thread on the economics of unemployment insurance. Why? Because Republicans are talking nonsense, but also because it seems to me that even some of the people calling for maintaining generous benefits are missing the point 1/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

RT @TBPInvictus: https://t.co/VMnE5h00Ma — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Trending on Twitter. This is the American presidency, 2020 https://t.co/kmZaTAOdQN — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

This is a test of the emergency emoji system. I haven't used emojis at all, but given the three-martini lunch deduction in the GOP plan that leaves the unemployed in the lurch, I think I have a symbol to use in referring to the plan: 🍸🍸🍸 — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

RT @willsommer: Trump and his allies have embraced @stella_immanuel, a doctor with a viral video saying masks aren't needed. But Immanuel h… — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

RT @OxfordDiplomat: This is the article I was waiting for. From an American writer, in a high profile American newspaper “The Cult of Sel… — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

If Republicans were simply selfish, we'd be in better shape. The problem is that they've sacralized selfishness, turning it into a cult. And that cult is killing our economy — and us https://t.co/ldoJvijMco — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

RT @nytopinion: What conservatives call “freedom” is actually "absence of responsibility," says @PaulKrugman https://t.co/8rBoSsONC3 — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

All boaters or just likely boaters? — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

I was wondering whether Rs would show some hint of getting a clue as they stare at the possibility of a huge Dem wave. But I guess we needn't have worried 3/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Also, indoor dining locations are closed bc they're petri dishes; so Rs think we can boost the economy by offering a tax break for those who dine in the restaurants that aren't open. Of course it's a stick for the unemployed and a carrot for the affluent, but similar delusion 2/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

So, there are 30 million Americans on unemployment benefits and only 5 million job offers; so Rs think we should slash benefits by 2/3 to force workers to take the jobs that don't exist 1/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Let them eat three-martini lunches — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Is this cruel or is it stupid? Yes. A huge cut for unemployed workers with little chance of finding jobs, and a giant fiscal contraction — equivalent to $600 billion at an annual rate — that will deepen the slump. Awesome. — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Trump has an “almost pathological unwillingness to admit error”? Why “almost”? https://t.co/Nrayk3IWgk — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

So we sacrificed tens of thousands of lives for nothing, or less than nothing. MAGA! 5/ — PolitiTweet.org