Paul Krugman

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

I fairly regularly check in on the home page of the National Bureau of Economic Research to see if there are developments I should be aware of. The current page features work on the declining life expectancies of lower-education whites 1/ https://t.co/arRNNFhfEJ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

This is really new to the US, and maybe for the world as a whole. We've really entered a new world of trade policy – and if you think the key players have any idea what they're doing, I have some Trump Steaks you might want to buy 7/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

But now Trump has imposed tariffs on hundreds of billions' worth of goods in an attempt to hurt China and others, and force them to change policies – and the Chinese have retaliated in ways designed to cause pain here, and induce us to back off. 6/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

By the way, that war never ended -- we still have the 25 percent tariff on light trucks we imposed in an attempt to force Europe to take our frozen chickens 5/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Since FDR and Cordell Hull, the US has been a defender of a rules-based system that was designed, among other things, to prevent trade wars. You can tell how rare they were by the fact that we're still talking about the "chicken war" of 1964 4/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Before FDR created the Trade Agreements Program, US trade policy was basically insular/isolationist. We were gonna do what we were gonna do, and not worry about foreign reactions. Smoot Hawley wasn't an attempt to punish anyone, it was just stupid 3/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Of course, we had a lot of protectionism. But I would only call that a trade war when tariffs are imposed as part of a deliberate attempt to hurt other countries, and force them to make concessions.And we've hardly ever done that 2/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Meanwhile, what's happening with the trade war? I don't think we know. But I've been doing some background work, and realizing that what we're doing now is pretty much unprecedented. Until Trump, there were almost no trade wars in US history 1/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Did I mention that the GOP is the only major advanced-country party that denies the reality of climate change? 2/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Last month I took a bike trip in southern France. It was lovely, even though a fair bit of it involved biking straight into major headwinds (the mistral). But look at what's happening now 1/ https://t.co/awrNOse933 — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Look, if you're an engineer who wants to weigh in on economics, you should take some time to learn about the subject. And yes, that goes for economists weighing in on politics too – which is why I pay a lot of attention to political science. 4/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

And while Yang asserts that automation destroyed lots of manufacturing in the midwest, you don't have to be a protectionist to realize that the acceleration of job loss after 2000 was mainly about the surging trade deficit 3/ https://t.co/rI9286GDuL — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Yang's thing is that automation is destroying all the jobs, so we need universal basic income. There is a case for UBI (and a case against, in favor of more targeted aid), but either way the premise is wrong. Productivity has been slowing down, not speeding up 2/ https://t.co/yNiUAZqg3a — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

OK, it seems mean to pick on Andrew Yang, who won't even be a factor in the nomination. But he positions himself as the tech guy who knows how the world really works, and there are others like him. So maybe worth pointing out that they're all wrong 1/ https://t.co/nfrXnt7nHH — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

I know that by the arithmetic Biden could still be the nominee, and so – but a much longer shot – could Sanders. But the dynamics are clearly now shifting toward candidates who have much stronger claims to represent the future 4/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Sanders is the guy who stood up the The Man -- well, woman, but whatever – in 2016, and helped push the party in a progressive direction. But while he has a core of old backers who want a replay, Warren and Harris aren't The Establishment 3/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Biden's argument for the presidency is basically that he's a good guy who was around during the Camelot years under Obama, and a symbol of a time when US politics were less of a blood sport. And that was enough to put him ahead for a while. But it's wearing badly 2/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

What happened in the debates: the politics of nostalgia took a beating. And I don't just mean Joe Biden, I mean Bernie Sanders too 1/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

The modern GOP is extremist and anti-democracy. If you don't get that, or refuse to admit it, you're missing the essence of what's happening https://t.co/jSgU0ovXkd — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

But we'll have to see. Health care should be a huge Democratic-advantage issue in the general, given ongoing GOP efforts to destroy Obamacare. Will that advantage be placed at risk? 4/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Warren being Warren, it's also a good bet that she will eventually get much more specific. My guess (hope?) is that if she ends up being the nominee, she'll have a plan that might eventually get us to single-payer but won't suddenly yank away private coverage 3/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Warren being Warren, this was surely a carefully thought-out move, not casual spur of the moment. It certainly gives Bernie Sanders very little to work with in the fight for progressive support 2/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Theater criticism aside, the big news from last night's debate was Warren's full-on embrace of single-payer – something I'm fine with on the merits, but consider a very hard policy to pursue given political realities 1/ https://t.co/YA6swOcm1L — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Can wonkishness win? Well, Elizabeth Warren Has a plan for that #DebateHaikus — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Cory A. Booker Is from New Jersey. You got a problem with that? #debatehaikus — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

A further thought: it's considered normal for leading GOP figures to call Democrats – barely left of center by international standards – socialists. But everyone in the news media would have a fainting spell if a major Dem called Rs fascists, which is much closer to being true — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Still the best political analysis out there https://t.co/em2gK8mWsO — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Great graphics. US Democrats have gone from being a center-right to a center-left party; the GOP from a right-wing party to an extreme right-wing party, closer to Germany's neo-Nazis than to the global center. https://t.co/srI5taGFCS — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Lots could change, and all these forward indicators could be wrong. But right now it looks as if the general election will be waged against the background of a weak economy, with Trump's claims of having turned everything around sounding like a sick joke. Just saying 5/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Can the Fed turn this around? What matters for the economy are mainly long-term rates, and these have already priced in a huge amount of easing – they're more or less back to where they were before the 2016 election, and way off the post-tax-cut bump 4/ https://t.co/U6SsRTmIiZ — PolitiTweet.org