Krugman: Phony Fear Factor

[ProSense]

Phony Fear Factor

By PAUL KRUGMAN

The good news: After spending a year and a half talking about deficits, deficits, deficits when we should have been talking about jobs, job, jobs we’re finally back to discussing the right issue.

The bad news: Republicans, aided and abetted by many conservative policy intellectuals, are fixated on a view about what’s blocking job creation that fits their prejudices and serves the interests of their wealthy backers, but bears no relationship to reality.

Listen to just about any speech by a Republican presidential hopeful, and you’ll hear assertions that the Obama administration is responsible for weak job growth. How so? The answer, repeated again and again, is that businesses are afraid to expand and create jobs because they fear costly regulations and higher taxes. Nor are politicians the only people saying this. Conservative economists repeat the claim in op-ed articles, and Federal Reserve officials repeat it to justify their opposition to even modest efforts to aid the economy.

The first thing you need to know, then, is that there’s no evidence supporting this claim and a lot of evidence showing that it’s false.

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[ProSense]

1. No comment? n/t

[TheWraith]

2. Holy crickets, Batman!

If it can't be blamed on Obama, by some ridiculous contortion of logic, DU doesn't want to discuss it.

[RaleighNCDUer]

3. What do you want?

So you like Krugman, all of a sudden?

He's been saying this for years - including the years that Obama was continuing the disastrous Republican economic policies of his predecessor - as the first paragraph explicitly says: "After spending a year and a half talking about deficits, deficits, deficits when we should have been talking about jobs, job, jobs we’re finally back to discussing the right issue."

It's nice to see Obama getting on the right track. Finally. I just hope it's not just a campaign ploy. Unfortunately, his advisers and economic team are STILL playing with the Republican play book. I'll have a lot more confidence in him when he dumps the Goldman team.

[ProSense]

4. Hmmmm?

"So you like Krugman, all of a sudden?"

Why, do you hate him "all of a sudden?"

[yurbud]

5. businesses grow when their is demand.