Paul Krugman

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

But that's not at all what happened. Econ 101 said that slashing spending in a depressed economy was a terrible idea. To justify their actions, policymakers had to *reject* standard macroeconomics and leap onto unorthodox theories 3/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

If you didn't follow that dispute at the time, you might think that the obsession with budget deficits at a time of mass unemployment was Econ 101, and that new ideas have refuted that case 2/ https://t.co/45VSABylcG — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

This is mostly a very good article by Jared Bernstein, but I have a bone to pick with him — namely, over his association of austerity mania with the "old economics" 1/ https://t.co/7Eq29Lhg6W — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

@DeanBaker13 So here's what it looks like: a big rise in tariffs, a trivial Chinese price cut. Trump's claim is just false 3/ https://t.co/u3K84Temky — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

@DeanBaker13 For Trump's claim to be true, the price of imports from China would have to have fallen as much as tariffs have risen -- a number we can get from PIIE 2/ https://t.co/IvWfoUUxbT — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Trump keeps claiming that China is paying the tariffs. As @DeanBaker13 points out, the latest BLS report on import prices shows that this isn't so 1/ https://t.co/3LRjDYVLJL — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

RT @SethAbramson: Is anyone else watching this Democratic debate thinking, "I don't think Donald Trump could understand let alone answer an… — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Surprise! The federal government can't be run like a casino or a golf course https://t.co/2GLWwERFac — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

As I've been saying, grifting is at the heart of the modern conservative movement. — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

The screamers on Fox and CNBC insist that Warren-type proposals to tax the rich are crazy. Actual tax experts find that they make a lot of sense, and could raise trillions in revenue https://t.co/jv2oCS5rTn — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

"Abase" yourself. Darn autocorrect. 3/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Getting low-information angry white guys to fork over their money for PACs that enrich their leaders and nutritional supplements isn't incidental, it's what drives the movement. And these days, to get into that game you must abseils yourself before Trump 2/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Josh Marshall hits on one of my favorite themes: the centrality of grift to modern conservatism. 1/ https://t.co/YRuXrbUlup — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

The minor moral here is that Trump thinks he can run the finances of the US government like a money-losing golf course. It doesn't work that way. The major moral is that he is completely clueless on policy 4/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

... because while there are outstanding bonds yielding more than current rates — say, 10-year bonds yielding 3 percent — those bonds sell at a premium. So buying back, say, $1 trillion in debt wld cost more than $1 trillion — enough more that the interest wld be the same 3/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

The answer is that federal debt isn't like a mortgage you can prepay; it's bonds that promise a fixed yield until maturity. The government could issue new bonds and buy the old bonds back, but this wouldn't reduce interest payments at all ... 2/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Quite aside from his demand that the Fed adopt emergency stimulus measures when the unemployment rate is 3.7%, Trump's tirade included the idea that the US should "refinance our debt." Why is that a stupid, ignorant remark? 1/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

So what's the actual plan? My guess is that when bad numbers come in, Trump will cross them out and write in better numbers with a Sharpie — and/or try to pressure the statistical agencies into faking the data 7/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

The thing is, the market has already priced in Fed cuts, with long-term rates near record lows. If this isn't enough to rescue the Trump economy, unlikely that any further Fed action will 5/ https://t.co/EU378bcPro — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

The basic story here is that the Trump tax cut was a damp squib, and the Trump trade war is turning out to be a strongly depressing force; but rather than acknowledge these failures, Trump is both blaming someone else and demanding that they rescue his efforts 4/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

For another, Republicans lambasted the Fed for its easy-money policies when unemployment was still 9, that's right, 9 percent 3/ https://t.co/zqEyy93uu1 — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

For one thing, the administration's rosy projections just a year ago envisioned interest rates substantially *higher* than what we actually have 2/ https://t.co/daIIGxncb2 https://t.co/wgTgOV8NCt — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

The chutzpah of Trump blaming the Fed for the economy's weakness is really amazing 1/ https://t.co/QYsiAUSZDM — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

One thing that strikes me is the strong correlation between high rates of uninsured and the Cato index of freedom. FL is the freest state, according to Cato, NY the least free. FL also has 2 1/2 times the NY rate of uninsurance among non elderly adults 5/ https://t.co/PLHcpISahe — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Also, the new data highlight the huge divergences between states. States that have expanded Medicaid and created their own marketplaces have much lower numbers of uninsured than those that haven't 4/ https://t.co/2mutrOyVhn — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

This decline, in turn, probably reflected a combination of harsher rules — work requirements etc that made it harder to get coverage — and anti-immigrant policies that scared off even those legally entitled to coverage 3/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Somewhat surprisingly, however, the efforts to cause an implosion of the Obamacare marketplaces hasn't achieved much, at least so far. What drove the 2018 numbers was largely a decline in Medicaid 2/ https://t.co/pd50QjBDRk — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

A few thoughts on yesterday's Census release showing a rise in the number of uninsured Americans. First, the Trump administration is making some progress in its goal — which is, let's face it. to deny coverage to as many people as possible 1/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

So when will John Bolton start hawking nutritional supplements? That is, after all, what washed-up right-wingers do https://t.co/00QimGALZG — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

RT @adamcbest: "She's got to be stopped." Jim Cramer and a @CNBC panel discuss Wall Street executives being absolutely terrified of Elizab… — PolitiTweet.org