Political Discussions

Political Discussions » General Discussion

Paul Krugman Wins Nobel Prize for Economics

Posted by satijournal • 10/13/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: election, mccain, obama, palin, politics

Paul Krugman is an economist that I've come to trust over the years and today it was anounced that he won the Noble Prize for Economics.
www.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/business/14nobel.html

Although he doesn't support McCain or Obama, here are some things he has written about them:

So what do we know about the readiness of the two men most likely to end up taking that call? Well, Barack Obama seems well informed and sensible about matters economic and financial. John McCain, on the other hand, scares me.

We’ve known for a long time, of course, that Mr. McCain doesn’t know much about economics — he’s said so himself, although he’s also denied having said it. That wouldn’t matter too much if he had good taste in advisers — but he doesn’t.
...

Remember, his chief mentor on economics is Phil Gramm, the arch-deregulator, who took special care in his Senate days to prevent oversight of financial derivatives — the very instruments that sank Lehman and A.I.G., and brought the credit markets to the edge of collapse. Mr. Gramm hasn’t had an official role in the McCain campaign since he pronounced America a “nation of whiners,” but he’s still considered a likely choice as Treasury secretary.
...

And then he found a new set of villains — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored lenders. (Despite some real scandals at Fannie and Freddie, they played little role in causing the crisis: most of the really bad lending came from private loan originators.) And he moralistically accused other politicians, including Mr. Obama, of being under Fannie’s and Freddie’s financial influence; it turns out that a firm owned by his own campaign manager was being paid by Freddie until just last month.
www.nytimes.com/2008/09/29/opinion/29krugman.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

User Comments

10/13/08

Anok

Good for him!

[reply]
10/13/08

clioandme

Those dastardly Scandinavians!

[reply]
1. 10/13/08
  
  satijournal
  
  Yeah, them are for'ners. What do they know!
10/13/08

dougist

Krugman said on WQXR today that he was "having a very strange day, pleasant but very strange" lol

[reply]
10/13/08

monkeysuit

USA!!!USA!!!

[reply]
10/13/08

jan4insight

I just read the article on Yahoo news - Krugman is one of my favorite columinists, and I'm very happy for him. I'm also happy that an economist who stands up against the virulent laissez-faire, deruglation mania that has produced this global crisis is being honored in this way.

[reply]
10/13/08

Wisco

Well, I guess this proves the Nobel Prize committee is elitist. Of course, that's kind of the point...

[reply]
1. 10/13/08
  
  Anok
10/14/08

MidwestMom

I really do like Krugman. Good for him.

[reply]
10/14/08

Theresa111

Congratulations!

[reply]
10/14/08

RuinousRight

All 2008 US Nobel Laureates in Science Endorse Obama!

65 of the nation’s greatest minds, the largest number of Nobel Laureates to ever endorse a political candidate for office, have encouraged the American public to vote Obama on November 4th.

sefora.org/2008/10/14/all-2008-us-nobel-laureates-in-science-endorse-obama/

[reply]