Paul Krugman on what bankruptcies mean for the economy

[eatyourownarm]

that intro/outro music is really annoying

[GMHGTO]

@TheSavvyEconomist Bankrupted cause they had funds in oil/commodities ie tarsands , which have all rallied, Look, every fund manager was down 25% or more in 2008. Take same portfolio from 2008, run though 2011, all commodities nearly doubled. I look up Peter Schiff was wrong all I see is a guy taking some CNBC anchors to school. Try better next time.

[tothemax01]

Why anybody would listen to Krugman for economics advice is beyond any intelligent person. It is as legitimate to listen to Krugman about economics as it is to listen to a rapist about morals. How the heck do these people even get the fame they have?

Why is society so hell bent on rewarding social regression, stupidity, what ever is wrong, and whatever is bad?

[JinxOz]

Can somebody explain why everybody has negative opinions of this guy. Calling him "retard." I don't know much about economics, but can somebody please explain what all the fuzz is about?

[01134Gareth]

@JinxOz well he constantly commits economic fallacies. The broken window fallacy is the one he repeats most often. He also promotes the idea that world war 2 ended the great depression. Which is basically saying that enslaving mass numbers of young men and forcing them to fight and die while the people back home are forced to use ration tickets is somehow good for an economy. How you spend your money is important and he doesn't get that.

[AcolyteAbyss]

@JinxOz People hate Paul Krugman because he is a leftist economist in a right-wing nation that cannot accept that tax-cuts for the wealthy don't magically solve all of our economic woes. Markets cannot regulate themselves, and Krugman pointing this out gets him in a lot of trouble.

[GMHGTO]

@AcolyteAbyss Heres problem with our country, what do we reward? What virtue do we reward in the western world? Success is not one of them. We reward failling businesses, too big to fail, and being poor you can live off the government for an eternity. Why strive to become rich and increase standard of living? The extra tax burdens? Taxes are no the answer to our system.

[jazzgtrplayer]

That's a ridiculous point. The rich are richer now than they've ever been. The successful are hugely rewarded and they would continue to be even if we tripled their taxes. Yes, too big to fail isn't right. But that's a separate issue. Bailing out the banks wasn't intended to reward them, it was intended to prevent the suffering of the poor that would come from them failing. You're equating the poor who live off welfare with the rich? That's an absurd argument not based in reality.

[GMHGTO]

@JinxOz just look up "peter schiff was right"

[PanzerDivisionBOM]

This ought to be good...

*Watches the video*

I wonder who this guy had to sleep with to get his Nobel prize?

[Nintendomanwill]

This is too funny. Krugman: "Are we going to see recession-we don't know"

OCTOBER 2008!

Paul, as an economist you are I hope trained to perceive why there ought be bankruptcies. The economy does not exist to maintain everyone in their desired position. If businesses are not going to profit, if they're producing goods on excessively extended structures of production when consumers are saving less, then demand for those time-intensive goods plummets as does solvency of intertemporal malinvestors

[ParrhesiaJoe]

Hehe... "No one knows if we're going to go into a recession"... except the entire Austrian school of economics... which correctly called this recession... the dotcom bust, the japanese meltdown, stagflation in the 70's, the boom in the 50's when the government "laid off" so many soldiers it was supposed to cause "Calamity!!". They predicted the great depression, too.

Sure, Krugman... no one saw this coming... no one on the federal reserve board, at least.

[Kostly]

The arguments that pull and push ideas this way or that, are hilarious. All economic "ideologies" have failed. Some more successful than others. But, all have failed, ultimately.

[danben72]

It is not just a bad economy but you Mr Krugman are a rally bad economist too, and I don't give a sh#t whether you won the "Nobel" prize, because: In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

Please could you not just shut the f#$k up and go and f*#k your cronies in Washington pp!

[DoctorJohnJGibbons]

It's amazing that Keynesian retards can rationalize the broken window fallacy, which has got to be the stupidest theory invented by man.

[awalters06]

@DoctorJohnJGibbons

Yeah, I can see how great the economic theories the conservatives have had has been working - I'm totally being sarcastic, what are you guys really afraid of, really?

[DoctorJohnJGibbons]

@awalters06 I think it's cute that you believe we've had anything resembling a conservative economic policy for the past few decades.

[jonz23m]

how can u b a nobel prize winning economist and still not be sure about the us being in a recession.

[DoctorJohnJGibbons]

He's the president of the KKK (Krugman Keynesian Klan). Their merry of retards are OCD with regards to government intervention.

Winning a Nobel Prize these days is pretty much irrelevant, so is whipping out your diploma like you were comparing cock sizes. Especially considering how many schools indoctrinate and brainwash with these Keynesian "economics" witchdoctor potion guides. It's about as useful as reading Harry Potter to learn economics.

[zsylvana]

We are already at the beginning of a full-blown worldwide depression with extensive unemployment almost everywhere. It may take the form of a classic nominal deflation,with all its negative consequences for ordinary people. Or it might take the form, a bit less likely, of a runaway inflation, which is simply another way in which values deflate, and which is even worse for ordinary people.

[creten69]

wtf is wrong with this dumb ass,the recession in the 70s never ended,wages havent gone up for shit,its all been outsourced,wtf,everyone had to borrow,the hammer comes down,now their all just a bunch of white niggars,and white choc suks people,dont kid yourselves.

this jew illuminatti dude needs to get the fuk under the denver airport and be done with it.Its a fukn depression without a bowl to eat the dust in.

[paulpembroke]

Well, obviously I should listen to a half-literate, foul-mouthed cretin like yourself over a prize winning journalist.

[creten69]

yes this is drunken anger,you really shouldnt go out in the pubic hair and act like such an arse.Please for all of us who want to grow,dont post fustrations,only mind expanding awareness and knowledge.ty

[decorao]

Creten you're a fool. Krugman knows wages stagnated since the 70s. But when the economy is as vibrant as it was in the 90s, you you can get away with stagnating wages. So, you're wrong--the recession did end.

[chicagoken]

House bill HR676 is the only answer

Google: HR676

[siebelseibel76]

Just hold out. Democracy will come eventually.

[chicagoken]

What do you propose?

[siebelseibel76]

We politely ask the government for permission to represent us. If they change course, and start to listen, perhaps the healthcare resources of this country will be guaranteed to its citizens. Or we will go back to living in an empire where the government pursues power over welfare.

[chicagoken]

50% of all bankruptcies are caused by illness and injury. And, 50% of those people have health insurance.

America needs universal single payer health insurance.

[stone1home]

America needs less greedy doctors, insurance companies and pharmaceuticals. It's that damn simple.

[chicagoken]

I certainly agree with you about for profit insurance companies sucking the system dry, and big Pharma needs to be reined in.

As far as doctors go, in countries that have single payer health insurance, they do get paid a little less. However, their overhead is cut by about 2 thirds and they don't have to spend hours everyday arguing with 20 different insurance companies about what treatment plan they can use. This = more time for patients and more time for their own families.

[stone1home]

You're right.

[stone1home]

"Big Pharma" is only a piece of the puzzle. A very damned rotten piece, for sure.

You might be interested in a book, "Night Comes to the Cumberland"- which describes the destruction of health care for coal miners by doctors' and pill pushers' greed.

[paulpembroke]

We also need to change our priorities in govt from the Republican emphasis on geo-political strategy to one based on solving problems at home.

[stone1home]

First of all, what is "geo-political"? What does that mean?

On the domestic scene, every doctor -with rare exception- expects ~$500,000 a year. I can relate many first-hand stories, even from (what has become) this backwater city, Dayton, Ohio.

Put it this way: a dermatologist, in an affluent suburb, and caught up in a nasty divorce case, was exposed hiding over $700,000 per year.

Figure that.

It's a very clear signal about what's wrong w/the system. Namely, greedy mother fuckers.

[paulpembroke]

I live in Massachusetts where the cost of practicing medicine is quite high and the avg GP general practicioner makes $167,000 per year. Specialists make more but nothing even close to the $500K figure you cite. Most Doctors I have met have an interest in science and altruism and they enjoy helping people. If they were "just greedy" as you say, they could have just got an MBA or JD or become a hedge fund manager. Your personal biases & resentments against doctors have clouded your judgement.

[stone1home]

I appreciate your response. However, I personally know a radiologist who left Dayton OH for Boston MA for a raise from $450,000 to $550,000 a year.

I guess she's a specialist. Probably, GP's are not so highly paid.`I wouldn't dispute your figure, but you might want to reconsider the justice of that figure, considering that many GP's today simply refer patients up the medical food chain.

My judgment may be 'clouded' but you try to raise six kids in today's world, and get back to me.

[curtnoel9]

Whats really sad is I am not even sure the Dems can make Single Payer Health care a reality. Now I KNOW the GOP hates the idea on principle (which speaks volumes on the their so-called morality IMHO). But its becoming more and more evident that Chomsky is correct about them. They are too beholden to those same merchant interests to actually listen to the people. I still support Obama. But with open eyes. Lets see if "change" means anything beyond the status quo...

[chicagoken]

I too am concerned about Obama's idea's for universal health care. However, I feel Barrack would be open to a single payer plan and could move the idea closer to reality.

As far as "too beholden to those same merchant interests to actually listen to the people", I'm afraid I have to disagree with the good professor. There are currently 90 cosponsors (all dems of course) to HR676. If more voters called their reps (R's and D's) and demand they support HR676 it can become reality.