Posts Tagged ‘Paul Krugman’

In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinions in The Times. William Kristol/The Jewish State at 60 The Short Version: Happy Birthday, Israel. You are surrounded by crazies. In his words: “Still, even though the security of Israel is very much at risk, the good news is that, unlike in the 1930s, the Jews are […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinions in The Times. Paul Krugman/Thinking About November The Short Version: Obama’s probably going to blow it because whites don’t like him!   In his words: “In recent decades, Democrats have had little trouble unifying after hard-fought primary campaigns. ” Score: F (Failure) This is a depressingly cynical (but untruthful) column that implies […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinions in The Times. Paul Krugman/Success Breeds Failure The Short Version: Don’t get too excited about the financial markets. In his words: “[T]he next crisis will probably be worse than this one.” Score: B- (Been there) Krugman describes an entrenched cycle of boom/bust/haphazard regulation in the financial markets […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinions in The Times. Paul Krugman/Party of Denial The Short Version: I still love Hillary even if she supports that stupid gas-tax holiday. In his words: “But if the Democrats really want to pin the denialist label on John McCain, health care is the place to focus.” Score: D+ […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinions in The Times. Paul Krugman/Bush Made Permanent The Short Version: The Maverick is a Loser! In his words: “Mr. McCain proposes making almost all of the Bush tax cuts, which are currently scheduled to expire at the end of 2010, permanent.” Score: B- (Basic) We already know […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selection opinion pieces in The Times. Paul Krugman/Self-Inflicted Confusion The Short Version: Friends! I told you Hillary was the best, and because you ignored me and got wrapped up in the Obullshit message of “change,” you shall now suffer accordingly. In his words: “The attacks from the Clinton campaign have been badminton […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Paul Krugman/Running Out of Planet To Exploit The Short Version: Let’s face it. We’re probably running out of oil. In his words: “But this time may be different: concerns about what happens when an ever-growing world economy pushes up against the limits of […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Paul Krugman/Clinging to a Stereotype The Short Version: Obama makes me mad! In his words: “Over all, none of this suggests that people turn to God out of economic frustration.” Score: D (Desparate) Krugman is really annoyed that Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the nomination […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Paul Krugman/Crisis of Confidence The Short Version: The United States is in a bad mood! In his words: “The question is, can the next administration end America’s malaise?” Score: D (Depressing) Krugman certainly touches upon a widely held perception that we’re completely fucked […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Paul Krugman/Health Care Horror Stories The Short Version: Health care is a disaster! (Barrack blows, vote for Hillary!) In his words: “You may think that this was an extreme case, but stories like this are common in America.” Score: D (Dour) We’re not sure […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinions in The Times. Paul Krugman/Grains Gone Wild The Short Version: Add soaring costs of food to the list of ways in which we are completely fucked. In his words: “Oh, and in case you’re wondering: all the remaining presidential contenders are terrible on this issue.” Score: D+ […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Paul Krugman/Voodoo Health Economics The Short Version: The Maverick is an idiot. In her words: “[T]he McCain health plan — actually a set of bullet points on the campaign’s Web site — is entirely based on blind faith that competition among private insurers […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Paul Krugman/The Dilbert Strategy The Short Version: Any “reform” of the financial markets proposed by the Bush administration is a joke. In his words: “Oh, and the Bush administration actively blocked state governments when they tried to protect families against predatory lending.” Score: […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Paul Krugman/Loans and Leadership The Short Version: When you look at policy proposals, McCain is a Nazi, Clinton is progressive and Obama (who annoys me just because) is less progressive. In his words: “McCain is selling the same old snake oil, claiming that […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Paul Krugman/Partying Like It’s 1929 The Short Version: We’re fucked, the only question is exactly how much. In his words: “The financial crisis currently under way is basically an updated version of the wave of bank runs that swept the nation three generations […]


Paul Krugman/The B-Word The Short Version: Bailout! In his words: “As Bear goes, so will go the rest of the financial system.” Score: B+ (Bailout) Krugman predicts more woe for the financial markets, along with an inevitable (and very expensive) buyout. Unfortunately for a lot of people (and U.S. taxpayers), he appears to be right. Roger […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Paul Krugman/Betting the Bank The Short Version: Economically, we’re fucked. In his words: “I’m more concerned that despite the extraordinary scale of Mr. Bernanke’s action — to my knowledge, no advanced-country’s central bank has ever exposed itself to this much market risk — […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Paul Krugman/The Face-Slap Theory The Short Version: We’re in deep shit. In his words: “The only way the Fed’s action could work is through the slap-in-the-face effect: by creating a pause in the selling frenzy, the Fed could give hysterical markets a chance […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Paul Krugman/The Anxiety Election The Short Version: It’s the economy, stupid. In his words: “[Democrats] can contrast the Clinton boom with the Bush bust; they can make the case that Republican economic ideology, with its fixation on privatization and deregulation, helped get us […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Paul Krugman/Deliverance or Diversion The Short Version: Why did Obama have to come along and wreck everything? In his words: “Some progressives are appalled by the direction their party seems to have taken: they wanted another F.D.R., yet feel that they’re getting an […]