Monday, April 25, 2011

Krugman as the Left (per New York Magazine)

Krugman is not a Leftist in any sense, he is a centrist Dem by historical standards who hasn't changed his basic political orientation as the country has swung right. Much as how former Justice Stevens became a 'liberal' after being appointed by Ford and the sitting through three decades of reaction. But back to Krugman, remember he supported NAFTA when the House almost rejected it.

Keynes also was a conservative by the standards of his time, or at least in relation to the powerful Communist, Anarchist and Socialist currents that then existed. He essentially was trying to save the system from itself.

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1'What’s Left of the Left' - New York

1 comment:

Jazzbumpa said...

Yeah - if you read Krugman from the 90's, you see him very much pro free-trade.

I don't think his economic ideas have changed much, but he had a political epiphany - much as I did.

In an interview with New York, Krugman describes his first years blogging for the NYT as "a radicalizing experience," primarily because of wading through the Bush administration's economic policy closer than ever before. Krugman says he discovered a world in which the president of the United States could say something "demonstrably false" and no one would say anything.

"That was pretty awesome," he said.


Mine came earlier, with the absurd Clinton impeachment farce. It became obvious that democracy had failed in America when an empty suit like W became a candidate for the presidency. Now, we are so far down the road to trans-national corporate serfdom, I wonder if there is any turning back.

Alas,
JzB