Hardball: Paul Krugman on the Needed Stimulus Package

[fausto412]

you would have thought Chris Matthews would have learned something from this.

[bonfirejovi]

How many times can one man be wrong.

[clat1]

The problem with the stimulus was that it was badly designed-sure it saved jobs but mostly for upper middle class people who were politically connected instead of the working poor who have been suffering more than other groups.

[MillzTheAthlete]

Pumping money from a printing press into a fiat/ fractional reserve system is no longer viable way to grow an economy. The market is telling people to save and you are inflating the dollar thus making it harder to save. Can anyone make sense of it? Two thirds of the consumer base is broke and you are handing bailouts bankrupted companies on the dime of broke people? Keynesian economic theories are fundamentally flawed. To get out of debt with more debt policies are beyond moronic. Paul sux.

[islandmuffin]

@islandmuffin The peer-reviewed research was published in May 2010 issue of the Econ Journal Watch (EJW), edited by Daniel B. Klein.

Seven Nobel laureates are members of the EJW Advisory Council.

[spokmage]

i met paul krugman once.

he was brilliant... but then i asked a question about 3rd world economics and he had a really smart alecky response that made me feel like a jackass.

[DeRocco21]

im studying the keynesian vs. austrian economics schools

[mintoo2cool]

@DeRocco21 so ? which ones better suited to solve for todays crisis?

[ntn1987]

What should the government do? Absolutely NOTHING. Keynesian economic policy works only in theory, not in real life.

[rawritssean]

Except when it has worked in real life--ie everytime it's been used in US history.

[Blechoz]

the only reason we dont have a Great Depression is because we have Welfare, and Social Security.

Its because the government hassome safety nets for people

[tenaciousj54]

See the only problem that Mr. Krugman doesn't talk about is that our economy during the 20's 30's and 40's was actually making stuff the rest of the world wanted and we were the biggest creditor nation in the world. Guess what were the biggest debter nation in the world running a 60 billion trade deficit and 11 tri national debt. If we continue to print money and borrow the dollar will collapse= HYPERINFLATION

[walrusprotectionplan]

Matthews says "the prices were so low they didnt even reach the costs of production"? please... if the prices fall and less people buy, firms have to produce less, and there is less demand for the factors of production, making them cheaper as well - so it would also cost less to produce. Problem is, Asia IS producing while we have not, so the price of raw materials will continue to reflect their superior production capacity and cause us to live beneath our means. All thanks to fiat money!

[navyman0290]

Johnson resigned about a week later when publicity over his role in wrecking Fannie Mae and maintaining sleazy relations with Countrywide, a major culprit in making the giant mounds of "liar loans" the nation is now saddled with. Not the Johnson Obama once knew, no doubt.

[navyman0290]

But was it Republicans who created this situation? Some did, yes, a small core in both House and Senate. But mainly, it was Democrats. Johnson was appointed to Barack Obama's VP selection committee (coincidentally, Obama is second on the list of all-time high recipients of Fannie Mae political contributions, despite being in the Senate for only three years

[utubeworms]

Unemployment always lags behind economic downturns. Just as new employment lags behind an economic upturn. The stimulus packages is not needed, is not going to stimulate anything, and is timed so that when the economy comes back on it's own, Obama can say, looky looky at me, I saved the economy so re-elect me. What a crock.

[peacefulman123]

America saved the world from evil?!?!?!?!?!? I mean how stupid it is?

[KyndestKid]

1% of the people on this earth have 80% of the wealth and we wonder how we ended up in this mess? Why do we put up with this ridiculousness. If I had a tenth of Paul Krugman's brain and a twentieth his courage, I'd be the happiest person on the face of the Earth!

[Seano71]

he's not all that smart, he thinks bailing out banks and stimulus is a good thing. How about promoting making good and services to sell to the world

[Voidka]

Unemployment is higher than 6.5%. What about the people working part-time that want to work full-time? Thats the hidden umemployment, so its more like 11% or higher.

[reconstructreality]

Underemployment?

[bpattiz]

That's a good point. Actually the flaw with the unemployment rate measure is that any discouraged workers (people who have looked for a job so long that they give up looking) is not considered unemployed. A better metric is the labor force participation rate which is at 66%.

[martyR13]

Am I the only one who thinks it would be cool if there were more people selling apples on the street and less people going through McDonald's drive through?

[osiris2669]

we spend too much time commuting, too much time working, both parents work, people have less and less time to prepare healthy meals, i've dated several girls who don't even know how to cook. there are a lot of factors behind us being a fast food oriented country, and i eat an apple every day from a local fruit stand.

[chumashfalcon]

Matthews needs to shut up and listen sometimes.

[osiris2669]

except when he says hilarious shit like obama giving him a feeling up his leg

[Slimdawgc]

Yeah. Though I think Matthews like to provoke sometimes. But Lord Krugman cannot be provoked!

[jerseybing]

wow...your good...i could have sworn i heard this interview a little while ago while i was cleaning out the fireplace...thanks for your time and effort..."cause it's a hassle for me to sit in front of a tv for various reasons...even a dvr...thanks......your uploads are terrific......