Paul Krugman

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Today's broadcast, "Who's afraid of the big bad debt?", going up shortly. Let me share a couple of slides that may also be relevant to today's column 1/ https://t.co/svcuYWKriz — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

I do wonder, though, whether online restaurant reservations are a high-SES thing, and may not reflect how many people crowd beaches and so on. I.e., we might get a surge in contagion risks without much economic activity — worst of both worlds. Pure speculation, of course 3/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

A couple of implications. On one side, surge in new infections may be smaller than feared, because people aren't changing behavior that much. On the other, economic bounceback may be muted for same reason 2/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

This is neat. Opentable has data on restaurant reservations compared with same day last year https://t.co/NGW5uVH4kR. It suggests that even in states that have "reopened" people are staying home 1/ https://t.co/0JjoYaUb1B — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

I approve this comment. Also, brainnnnns! — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Trump's infallibitis — inability to admit mistakes — has spread through the administration. Some evidence suggests that droplets can carry it 14 feet. — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

PS: The next briefing in this series, available tomorrow morning, will be "Who's afraid of the big bad debt," tomorrow morning 5/ https://t.co/svcuYWKriz — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

And the debt scolds — who went into hiding when the GOP rammed through a $2 trillion tax cut — are emerging to say that we must cut Social Security and Medicare 4/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

They're back to insisting that helping people in need makes workers lazy 3/ https://t.co/ZSLjG72Row — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Republicans are back to arguing that tax cuts are the solution to all problems 2/ https://t.co/pTAqKoABh2 — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

It's now clear that the pandemic will be followed by a zombie apocalypse. That is, zombie ideas — which should have been killed by evidence, but keep shambling along, eating people's brains — are making a big comeback 1/ https://t.co/oknwvSLSfS — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Awesome that financial reporters still can't get this right. CBO projects an 11% decline in GDP, which is 38% *at an annual rate*. How hard is it to stop misleading readers? https://t.co/0Igi0z7AKD — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Give Americans who can't work a tax break on the money they can't earn. Brilliant https://t.co/pTAqKoABh2 — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

But Trump can't help himself: he's so insecure that he has to be right, always, and just doubles down on his disasters. This is true of everything from health advice to Korean nuclear deals. And it's going to get a lot of people killed 3/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

By now even Fox News hosts realize that Trump's initial endorsement of hydrochloroquine — where did that come from, anyway? — was an error that could have lethal consequences. A decent leader wld admit that; even a cynical leader would slink away and pretend it never happened 2/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Let's be clear: we don't know whether Trump is actually taking hydrochloroquine. We only know that he *says* he's taking it. But why would he say — and possibly, maybe, do — that? It's a treatment for his severe case of infallibitis — inability to admit mistakes 1/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Unemployment benefits were $48.5 billion in first 15 days of May — equaling total for April. Money is flowing to workers, making up most of their lost wages. https://t.co/ySCl1LD34n — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

We can keep families solvent during lockdown — in fact, we're doing it better than people realize https://t.co/5q6DlKTIiI — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Lots of reports about people who still haven't been able to get unemployment benefits. But federal outlays on UI for the first 14 days of May about as large as total outlays for April. Money is going out, and helping a lot https://t.co/28pCX1qMHQ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

@equitablegrowth @communitychange @dorianwarren @Groundwork Here's a remarkable fact: although we talk (rightly) about how austerity slowed recovery after 2009, we lost more state+local government jobs *in April* than in the whole post-crisis period 2/ https://t.co/GZBBY931Sc — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Doing an austerity panel in about 20 minutes. 1/ https://t.co/mbuN7aSDTQ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

RT @equitablegrowth: TODAY: Join @paulkrugman, Kim Phillips-Fein, and @communitychange's @DorianWarren for a conversation on austerity and… — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

My webinar last Friday for Princeton's Bendheim Center https://t.co/4jRLVxF1Hf — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Now, small-business lending is a mess. But Congress did much more than people realize to help the unemployed, which is something those agitating for early opening should acknowledge 10/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

And as the Brookings study pointed out, UI much more extensive in mid-May than April average 9/ https://t.co/NLAfFgif3A — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

So we're probably well under $100 billion in wage losses. Meanwhile: 8/ https://t.co/KoiPzs99g0 https://t.co/T4pipDNoju — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

If the wages of those laid off were the same as the average wage, this would have meant $109 billion in lost income. But laid-off were paid less than average, which is why average wages spiked 7/ https://t.co/TP7eZzKoDH — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Actually, want to share my version of the Brookings calculation, just for future reference. Hours worked have fallen off a cliff, declining 16% since Feb. 6/ https://t.co/HDTwoGK2F5 — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Not saying that workers are doing fine. They aren't. But expanded benefits — included at Democrats' insistence — have greatly reduced the pain. 5/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

On the other side, job markets seem to have stabilized in late April. So benefits are expanding, while wage income has probably stopped falling 4/ https://t.co/BMfyvahn6R — PolitiTweet.org