Paul Krugman

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

A further thought about health care and the Dems: this isn't about left versus right; it isn't about "candidates have to be centrist to win." There are plenty of very progressive ideas, from higher taxes on the rich to higher minimum wage, that are popular 1/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Maybe Warren really believes that single-payer is the only way; if so, I've misjudged her policy acumen. Either way, that was a bad night for someone who should be leading the progressive charge 7/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

But Kamala Harris was willing to accept that risk, with a plan that's actually pretty radical but not purist. Last night was Warren's chance to show that she's equally bold. She didn't take it 6/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

True, any progressive who fails the Bernie purity test will face harsh attacks, including dishonest smears 5/ https://t.co/mofOfTcLJS — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Bernie Sanders, of course, is single-payer or bust; he sort of has to be, because it's all he's got. But Warren, who has so many smart proposals, didn't have to go there 4/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

We also know that support for Medicare-for-All falls off a lot if you tell people it means abolishing private insurance. So the smart policy is one that gives people an option, and there are several plans out there — now including one from Harris — that do that 3/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Health care policy is something we understand very well, because every other advanced country already has universal coverage. And what we learn is that there are multiple ways to get there; you don't have to go pure single-payer 2/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Well, I found last night's debate bitterly disappointing. I had hoped that Warren would use the occasion to start climbing out of the hole she's stumbled into on health care. Instead she dug it deeper 1/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Not quite the question being addressed here, but I do get "how would you like it if immigrants were competing for your job?" Well, by my rough count 1/3 of Princeton's economics faculty is foreign-born; haven't done CUNY yet https://t.co/tyaGlkmat8 — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Most scholars of the Great Depression attribute it to (a) bank runs in the absence of deposit insurance (b) clinging destructively to the gold standard. So Judy Shelton is basically committed to making depressions great again. — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Overall, this is the weakest Warren plan so far. (Still waiting to hear from her on health care! Harris has taken point there, and done it well) But it's not bad enough to change the verdict that she's the strongest contender on policy grounds 14/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

On the other hand, there are some cases where trade policy will almost surely have to be used to enforce some common action. If we ever do act on climate change, carbon tariffs will be needed to discipline free riders 13/ https://t.co/0ceZx6Kqfq — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

On one side, the potential for abuse would be large — we could be slapping tariffs on countries for all kinds of reasons, turning trade policy into global power politics, which would be really bas for smaller, weaker countries 12/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Warren would also expand the criteria for trade policy to include a number of non-trade goals, like labor rights and environmental protection. Here again there are arguments on both sides 11/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Mainly it would substitute one kind of special interest distortion for another. That would have been a clearly bad thing when trade deals were actually about trade. Today, I think it's ambiguous 10/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

So what Warren proposes is that we partially unravel the system FDR built, making trade negotiations more transparent and giving Congress a bigger role in shaping the deals. This sounds more democratic, but that's a bit deceiving 9/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

And it's not at all clear that such deals are actually good for the world, which is why I was a soft opponent of TPP 8/ https://t.co/yRpwMEDvq8 — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

So what has changed? The key point is that the system pretty much achieved its goals; we're a low-tariff world. And that has had a peculiar consequence: these days "trade negotiations" aren't mainly about trade, they're about intellectual property and regulation 7/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Without this system we wouldn't have achieved the great opening of world markets after World War II — and that opening was a very good thing overall, especially for poor countries, and helped promote peace 6/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

And while business interests certainly got a lot of input, it was set up in a way that set different groups against each other — exporters versus import-competing industries — and this served the interests of the general public 5/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

This can sound like a process rigged in favor of special interests. But it was created by FDR, and its actual intent was largely the opposite. It took away the ability of Congresspeople to stuff trade bills with goodies for their donors and districts 4/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Background: the way we currently do trade negotiations is that professionals negotiate out of public view, but with input from key business players. Then Congress gets an up or down vote on the result 3/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

The truth is that this would have been a bad and destructive plan if implemented in, say, 1980. At this point it's still problematic, but not disastrous (this is going to be a long tweet storm) 2/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

OK, obviously I need to weigh in on Elizabeth Warren's trade proposal. I've been a huge fan of her plans so far. This one, not so much, although some of the critiques are overdone 1/ https://t.co/zZFcpP6RTs — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

RT @gabriel_zucman: A wealth tax is confiscatory, according to hedge fund manager who charges 2/20 https://t.co/Bwc0RVdDmR — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

This, from the Sanders campaign, exemplifies everything wrong with that campaign — smearing (and misrepresenting) a reasonable proposal that would make the US system resemble several successful European systems. Advocating pure single-payer is fine; smearing alternatives isn't — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Give me that old time division. Trump's racism isn't just vile, it's rooted in a vision of America that's decades out of date https://t.co/cBYGfEQ8PE — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

RT @BFriedmanDC: Trump on cities Atlanta: "falling apart" Baltimore: "a filthy place" Chicago: "totally out of control" Philadelphia: "… — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

RT @JohnJHarwood: results of 2018 NYC health inspection of Trump Tower Grille, where i interviewed Trump in 2015: — “evidence of mice or l… — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

The Baltimore Sun has some comments https://t.co/D0xpL70PBy https://t.co/Ri8T5kRZPC — PolitiTweet.org