Dinner With Krugman

[Clio the Leo]

It's the curse of the modern presidency. Our chief executives need to make an active, aggressive effort to reach beyond their immediate circle of advisers, to demand fresh thinking and avoid the sycophancy that comes with the Oval Office. Otherwise, they'll only hear what they want to hear—or what their aides tell them. To judge from "War of Necessity, War of Choice," Richard N. Haass's new book on presidential decision-making with regard to Iraq, George W. Bush lived in a bubble, partly of his own making, that walled off creative dissent or even, in some cases, common sense.

Mindful of his predecessor, Barack Obama seems to be trying harder to make sure he hears all sides. On the night of April 27, for instance, the president invited to the White House some of his administration's sharpest critics on the economy, including New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and Columbia University economist Joseph Stiglitz. Over a roast-beef dinner, Obama listened and questioned while Krugman and Stiglitz, both Nobel Prize winners, pushed for more aggressive government intervention in the banking system.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/195666

[AtomicKitten]

1. An available ear is the sign of an open mind, and that's nothing but good news. n/t

[polichick]

8. It sure is - on both counts!!

[phantom power]

2. Good.

[ErinBerin84]

3. neat!

Plus, on a shallow note, dinner at the white house is much better than dinner at that bore George Will's house, or even the meeting with liberal columnists.

[CTyankee]

4. I was just going to post a thread asking where Krugman's newfound fame had gone.

It's great that Obama asked them to dinner at the WH. I would have loved to be a fly on that wall...

[HopeOverFear]

5. k and r

[Cha]

6. Not one bit

surprised.

[FrenchieCat]

7. Did Krugman write about his dinner date? Cause I hadn't heard.

[Cha]

10. This is the first

I've heard of it..right now.

[Danascot]

13. Nothing to say

Andrew Leonard and Calculated Risk want to know why I didn’t blog about dinner at the White House. Um, because the conversation was off the record.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/05/nothing-to-say/

[BlooInBloo]

15. It was off the record.

http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/05/krugmans-white-house-dinner.html

[Grateful for Hope]

9. It is so refreshing to have a very intelligent President n/t

[onefreespiritedchick]

11. You gotta love Obama

Smart as a whip and always two steps ahead. :)

[applegrove]

12. He is so wise for such a young President.

[BlooInBloo]

14. Good job, Obama.

[jonestonesusa]

16. Great news - thanks!

This will help with assessing the effectiveness of the initial set of economic policies as we move forward. Thank you, President Obama, and the dissenting voices from the field of economics!

[berni_mccoy]

17. Krugman complained that the Roast Beef wasn't bold enough.

:evilgrin: