Krugman says the Trump Administration is wrong to expect economic growth in the range of 3 to 3.5 percent a year. We look at Krugman's analysis of what does and doesn't cause economic growth -- and why he thought it was reasonable to expect 3 percent growth a year under Obama, which never happened in any year.
You know the drill: Krugman says Republicans--including but not limited to Donald Trump--are blithering idiots who are actually proud of their ignorance. There are plenty of right-wingers we dislike too, but as usual Krugman's claims are utterly biased. We remember some of President Obama's "greatest hits" when it comes to diplomatic gaffes and botched policy execution.
In this episode we talk tariffs, taxes in general, and whether business can really "pass on" a tax to consumers.
Donald Trump was elected in part to keep manufacturing jobs in the United States and reversing that sector's decline. Krugman says his program will do the exact opposite.
Trump and his supporters live in a bubble and manufacture their own reality, says Krugman. That's Krugman talking, we remind you. Krugman is speaking about other people manufacturing their own reality. This from a guy who manufactures whatever reality conforms to the partisan demands of the moment, as we've shown in drearily copious detail.
We decided to depart from our usual format this week, given the significance of the Obama-Trump transition, to look back at and offer some thoughts about the Obama years.
Krugman actually had the nerve to write a column called "Deficits Matter Again." We demolish this column. We prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Krugman is simply a hypocrite, despite his protestations to the contrary. His reasons for why the deficit suddenly matters were all in effect months ago, yet back then Krugman didn't care about the deficit at all.
Trump promises to be the most corrupt president in U.S. history, says Krugman, who offers hotel reservations as a key example. Democratic and bipartisan corruption is of course ignored. Oh, and two more times -- in a single column! -- Krugman links to something he claims is saying one thing, but which when you click on it you discover is saying quite another. In all, perfect fodder for Contra Krugman.
Krugman disagrees with Trump's trade policies and thinks they're grounded in falsehoods (e.g., China as a "currency manipulator"). You'll never guess what Krugman has said in the past when Democrats have flirted with protectionist ideas....
So Paul Krugman is suddenly shedding tears over the fate of the republic. Of course, he cheered every step that brought us here.
That sounds totally realistic and not at all like it was concocted by spooks.
Let's keep the part about covering pre-existing conditions, say Donald Trump and many other Republicans, and just get rid of the parts we dislike. Unfortunately for them, that can't be done.
In Krugman's column on cronyism and profiteering, Bob and Tom pay particular attention to the section on education, where Krugman discusses school vouchers and "privatization." Wait till you hear how Krugman summarizes the results of these policies....
Funny: Krugman used to be happy about any kind of fiscal stimulus. But when it's a Republican doing it, he has to come up with a laundry list of reasons to oppose it. But his own economic theory virtually requires him to favor it, so we have a little fun with the poor guy.
Well, well, well: guess who's suddenly worried about the deficit and the debt! After just telling us that increasing the debt in any way for any reason would be a good thing, to boot!
Even though Donald Trump supports massive infrastructure spending financed by debt in order to put people to work (sound familiar), Krugman is of course horrified by the election result. This week we're joined by David Stockman, director of the Office of Management and Budget under Ronald Reagan, to review what Trump is likely to accomplish, what the Democrats will block, and what it all means for the economy.
Both Donald Trump and Paul Ryan, each in his own way, spin crazy dystopian stories about America, says Krugman. Our country isn't perfect, but where are they getting these crazy ideas? We sort out who's crazy and whether things really are dystopian.
In this special episode recorded before a live audience on board the Contra Cruise, which Tom and Bob are hosting this week, your hosts take on Krugman on tighter fuel efficiency standards of automobiles, Krugman's anti-scientific statements on climate change, and more, including audience questions.
Krugman says it's not just Trump who's an ignoramus, but his economic advisors, too: why, they seem to think a foreign VAT (value-added tax) hurts US exporters. We investigate, and turns out these guys are against fiscal and monetary stimulus -- how bad could they be? Yes, there are some problems in the Trump white paper, but there's a lot of good in it, too. And its key fallacy on trade accounting is something Krugman himself has pushed in other contexts.
All the Republicans want to do is cut taxes on the rich, says Krugman, but Hillary has lots of programs she wants to enact for "working families." And each one is obtuse in its own special way.
Krugman suggests that the image of Hillary Clinton as particularly untruthful is a fabrication of the right-wing noise machine. We remind him of some uncomfortable truths.
This week, Krugman is unhappy about the adverse health effects of lead paint, which only Hillary Clinton wants to eradicate. This is typical, Krugman says: Republicans (which in his mind is synonymous with free-market people) hate science and love when poor people are unsafe and die.