Paul Krugman

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Maybe this isn't the media's fault, just people hearing what they want to hear. Maybe it wouldn't make any difference if people knew the reality. But just dismissing the issue feels like bad faith 5/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

As of February 28 percent of the public had heard unfavorable news on employment, only 13 percent favorable news. Pretty amazing amid a jobs boom 4/ https://t.co/mYueBDJZqH — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Maybe that's because more people have heard news about higher than lower unemployment? From Michigan Survey 3/ https://t.co/MpNN4xDC57 — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

And one possible explanation is that they haven't heard that good news. According to the Navigator Survey, a plurality of Americans believe that the economy has LOST jobs over the past year 2/ https://t.co/jcKVj6Eabk — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Straw man alert. Nobody is saying that voters are silly to be concerned about inflation. The question is why the bad news on inflation isn't at all offset by the good news on jobs 1/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

RT @nytopinion: “The Great Resignation now looks like a Great Misunderstanding,” writes @PaulKrugman. https://t.co/rGBFpGlfmD — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Amazon is exactly the kind of company that can and should have a strong union. Maybe it's starting https://t.co/4XgWyk2IQy — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

RT @BillKristol: Less than one year ago, in the course of denigrating American service members, Ted Cruz praises the Russian military. — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

But still, there seems to be a lesson here: if history is any guide, Russians won't turn on this war until or unless it has been undeniably lost 11/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

The Argentine junta may have been more vulnerable that Putin, in part because of spectacular economic mismanagement 10/ https://t.co/2XMUCaEKHP — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

When I was despairing about public support for the Iraq war, I kept thinking of how the Argentine junta temporarily made itself popular by invading the Falklands; the junta didn't fall until that war ended in humiliation 9/ https://t.co/ZZHcBYViGt — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

The war was also wildly popular. That's what nationalism does: people almost always rally around the flag, no matter how stupid and unjust the war. The backlash, if it happens, only comes once the war turns into a clear failure 8/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

And it was huge and hugely expensive. Britain 1900 had roughly 1/4 the population of Russia 2022; it sent 250,000 soldiers, bigger than the force that invaded Ukraine. It was stupid and brutal: Britain invented concentration camps 7/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Important not to retrocast this war as a preemptive strike against apartheid; the Brits were every bit as racist as the Boers. It was instead a war of choice by a power that was generally happy to let white people elsewhere oppress indigenous populations 6/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

It was insane to interrupt this progress with the basically pointless horror of World War I — but that's what happened. But as Brad points out, there had already been a kind of dress rehearsal for this madness: the Boer War 5/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Much of the early part of the book is taken up with the extraordinary economic progress from 1870 to 1914, during which he argues the world finally broke free from the Malthusian trap that had kept living standards roughly unchanged since the days of ancient Sumer 4/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

I'm reading the manuscript of Brad DeLong's soon-to-be-published magisterial history of the "long 20th century" from 1870 to 2010, which actually has a lot to say about this 3/ https://t.co/bd35YgTUJZ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

For now, at least, ordinary Russians appear to be rallying behind Putin and the war. The usual caveats about what people are willing to say under an authoritarian regime, but this seems to be real. It's also not surprising 2/ https://t.co/xlEPLOAjAf — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

The war isn't over, but Ukraine has won an epic victory over vastly superior Russian forces. And yet ... 1/ https://t.co/Kq5srkZznq — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

It's a long leap from one vote to the future of U.S. inequality; but let's hope that what happened in Staten Island doesn't stay in Staten Island 6/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

The decline of unions didn't have to happen. Yes, manufacturing employs fewer people; but it was essentially a hostile political environment that blocked the unionization of giant service sector companies like Walmart ... or Amazon 5/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

And they were a crucial political counterweight to the power of big money; not just by campaigning for things that helped workers, but, I believe, by providing workers with information about stuff that mattered, as opposed to what they get from Fox News 4/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

They weren't saintly; like any institution, they had their fair share of flawed leaders, corruption, etc. But they were a huge force for equality, even among workers who weren't members 3/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Hard for Americans of recent generations to understand how big a factor unions used to be in this country (data from Unionstats) 2/ https://t.co/Ir7P234XZi — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

This is seriously a big deal. The decline of unions has been central to a lot of what has gone wrong in America this past half century 1/ https://t.co/MLP4dJQg5z — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Aside from the electric scooter, that's my lifestyle. Combined with the dozens of good restaurants in easy walking distance, it's a living hell, I tell you — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Russia has defended the ruble at the expense of all else. Is that because a plunging currency would be too visible a sign of failure? https://t.co/pJzSy2PWn0 — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Yes, the U.S. made policy errors. But a lot of this inflation is a global phenomenon 3/ — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Energy is, of course, a big part of it — Europe much more exposed than the U.S. because of foolish dependence on Russian gas. But core inflation is up a lot too, 1.2% on the month, which is ~15% at an annual rate 2/ https://t.co/GLj05bIiNq — PolitiTweet.org

Paul Krugman @paulkrugman

Given all the agita over U.S. inflation, I'm surprised at how low-key the coverage is of the huge spike in Europe 1/ https://t.co/G21fkDOQMu — PolitiTweet.org