Paul Krugman, Laureate of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2008 at a press conference at the Swedish Academy of Science in Stockholm (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This article is Nobel Prize winning, liberal economist, at his best, writing in his blog in the New York Times. Check it out!
via The Story of Our Time – NYTimes.com.
Once again, Krugman explains that we are in a depression, with millions out of work, and that governments have a clear responsibility to reflate their economies. He argues that governments are influenced by a powerful elite only concerned with:
- Expression of prejudice
- Opportunism, and
- Class interest it always was
With the austerians totally discredited, the major question in Europe is will German Chancellor Angela Merkel let Europe reflate?
Perhaps, German voters will have had enough of the bad press that Angela Merkel’s government has caused. Unless Merkel bends, there are two obvious alternatives in Germany:
- The socialists who will reflate, and
- The right wing who will take Germany out of the Euro.
The Lost Generation of youth unemployment in Europe, or indeed the long-term unemployed do not care who wins in Germany, they just want a chance.
Surely, it’s time for a type of Marshall Plan in Europe; Southern Europe desperately needs Northern Europe money for investment in infrastructure like Cyprus offshore gas which would benefit the whole of Europe.
via The Story of Our Time – NYTimes.com.
Related articles
Dr Alf's Blog 
Reblogged this on Dr Alf's Blog and commented:
Looking back this is worth a read. It’s one of our most popular blogs.
Pingback: The Big Shrug – NYTimes.com – Paul Krugman « Dr Alf's Blog
Pingback: Who Has Draghi’s Back? – NYTimes.com -Paul Krugman « Dr Alf's Blog
Pingback: Greek Regrets – NYTimes.com -Paul Krugman « Dr Alf's Blog
Pingback: Debt and Growth: The State of the Debate – NYTimes.com -Paul Krugman « Dr Alf's Blog
Pingback: The Mythical 70s – NYTimes.com – Paul Krugman « Dr Alf's Blog
Pingback: Japan Courts Growth While Europe Keeps Up Austerity – NYTimes.com « Dr Alf's Blog
Pingback: How Austerity Kills – NYTimes.com « Dr Alf's Blog
Pingback: The Chutzpah Caucus – NYTimes.com – Paul Krugman « Dr Alf's Blog
Pingback: Keynes, Keynesians, the Long Run, and Fiscal Policy – NYTimes.com « Dr Alf's Blog
Pingback: Not Enough Inflation – NYTimes.com – Paul Krugman « Dr Alf's Blog
Pingback: Global youth unemployment: The lost generation | The Economist « Dr Alf's Blog
Pingback: The euro crisis: Europe bleeds out | The Economist « Dr Alf's Blog
Pingback: Eurozone jobless rate hits record high as inflation falls – FT.com « Dr Alf's Blog
Hi Alf,
Of course I’m no longer living in Germany and, resulting from that, not that close to German politics any more than I used to be, but I’m still following the (political) news from my native country on a daily basis. From what I gather, I don’t think that the Eurosceptics [I wouldn’t exactly call them the right wing, as that has some bad connotations] will win the day – not even with that new party [AfD]. They might, though, get enough votes to deny Merkel a victory in the elections. As to the socialists: to my mind they would be worse than the present government. What I see them doing is raising taxes, spending [one could also say, wasting] much money [if not all they get from raised revenue] on social programmes [Umverteilung would be the keyword here], and also on – possibly unconditional – bailouts for other European states.
As to Krugman: to my mind, his ideas do have something for them, but only as far as theoretical economics are concerned. His ideas definitely don’t work in the realm of politics. Or have you ever seen a politician save mioney in times of surplus, to spend it when the economy needs a stimulus?! Therefore, adding to the deficit now to jump-start the economy won’t help in the long run. Should the economy really gets going again and there’s more revenue, trust the politicinas to sqander that away. That’s why I am for an austerity policy, full well seeing all the disadvantages. Some states simply have to go broke for the politicians to learn. IF they can learn, that is. But to my mind the only way out is “per aspera ad astra”.
Best regards from southern Texas,
Pit
Hi Pit,
Many thanks for sharing your views.
In many respects, I think that Angela Merkel is an excellent “statesman” as well as being an exceptionally gifted politician. I just wish she would be a bit bolder and set out a vision for rebuilding Europe.
I respect “austerity” and it may well be appropriate in Southern Texas but it’s looking a bit out of place in Southern Europe!
Best regards from Southern Europe,
Alf