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That's confirmation bias in a nutshell. I read Paul Krugman for being mostly correct about things economic (and often political) for the past 17+ years. I can'

That's confirmation bias in a nutshell. I read Paul Krugman for being mostly correct about things economic (and often political) for the past 17+ years. I can't say the same about FOX News commentators, which I watched regularly from 1999 through 2010 - most of the opinion shows were red meat nonsense or outright falsehoods. That said the news operation is fairly straight. This isn't dissimilar from the WSJ editorial pages, which is to me mostly plutocratic lunacy, even though they have a very solid news operation. The Times I view similarly, though I am finding WaPo to be more thorough the past few years.

CWuestefeld 10y ago
I read Paul Krugman for being mostly correct about things economic (and often political) for the past 17+ years. Except he's not. Krugman is no longer an economist, he's a commentator. And with that comes his slant. From the "Mises Wiki" [1] The Economist cites critics of Krugman stating that "his relentless partisanship is getting in the way of his argument". In addition, a website (titled "Lying in Ponds") that tracks partisanship among public intellectuals rated Krugman second in the overall partisan slant of his columns, behind only Ann Coulter ... The Economist magazine supported the finding, noting the vast majority of Krugman's columns feature attacks on Republicans and almost none criticize Democrats, making him "a sort of ivory-tower folk-hero of the American left As he moved from Nobel-winning economist to the political realm, he also left behind many of his economically sound ideas. For example [2] Would cutting the minimum wage raise employment? - New York Times, Dec 16, 2009 ...the belief that lower wages would raise overall employment rests on a fallacy of composition. In reality, reducing wages would at best do nothing for employment; more likely it would actually be contractionary. Training touted to close widening wage gap - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, page 8A - Feb 6, 1996 Stanford University economist Paul Krugman, however, said raising the minimum wage and lowering barriers to union organization would carry a trade-off --- increased unemployment. ...Deficits and interest rates - New York Times, Aug 14, 2009 It turns out that there's a strong correlation between budget deficits and interest rates - namely, when deficits are high, interest rates are low ... On reflection, it's obvious why... A fiscal train wreck - New York Times, Mar 11, 2003 But we're looking at a fiscal crisis that will drive interest rates sky-high. A leading economist recently summed up one reason why: "When the government reduces saving by running a budget deficit, the interest rate rises." [1] The site isn't working for me, so I can't get a link [2] http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2010/06/paul_krugman_the_selfcontradic.html http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2010/06/paul_krugman...
- pdabbadabba 10y ago
  OK. So Paul Krugman's positions have - maybe - changed on a handful of topics. Let's set aside the significant possibility that he is at least as likely to be right the second time on these topics than the first. But to get at GP's point, who would you say is Paul Krugman's closest competition at Fox News when it comes to economic expertise, and accurateness of his or her economic predictions? ...Neil Cavuto?

CWuestefeld 10y ago

I read Paul Krugman for being mostly correct about things economic (and often political) for the past 17+ years. Except he's not. Krugman is no longer an economist, he's a commentator. And with that comes his slant. From the "Mises Wiki" [1] The Economist cites critics of Krugman stating that "his relentless partisanship is getting in the way of his argument". In addition, a website (titled "Lying in Ponds") that tracks partisanship among public intellectuals rated Krugman second in the overall partisan slant of his columns, behind only Ann Coulter ... The Economist magazine supported the finding, noting the vast majority of Krugman's columns feature attacks on Republicans and almost none criticize Democrats, making him "a sort of ivory-tower folk-hero of the American left As he moved from Nobel-winning economist to the political realm, he also left behind many of his economically sound ideas. For example [2] Would cutting the minimum wage raise employment? - New York Times, Dec 16, 2009 ...the belief that lower wages would raise overall employment rests on a fallacy of composition. In reality, reducing wages would at best do nothing for employment; more likely it would actually be contractionary. Training touted to close widening wage gap - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, page 8A - Feb 6, 1996 Stanford University economist Paul Krugman, however, said raising the minimum wage and lowering barriers to union organization would carry a trade-off --- increased unemployment. ...Deficits and interest rates - New York Times, Aug 14, 2009 It turns out that there's a strong correlation between budget deficits and interest rates - namely, when deficits are high, interest rates are low ... On reflection, it's obvious why... A fiscal train wreck - New York Times, Mar 11, 2003 But we're looking at a fiscal crisis that will drive interest rates sky-high. A leading economist recently summed up one reason why: "When the government reduces saving by running a budget deficit, the interest rate rises." [1] The site isn't working for me, so I can't get a link [2] http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2010/06/paul_krugman_the_selfcontradic.html http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2010/06/paul_krugman...

pdabbadabba 10y ago
OK. So Paul Krugman's positions have - maybe - changed on a handful of topics. Let's set aside the significant possibility that he is at least as likely to be right the second time on these topics than the first. But to get at GP's point, who would you say is Paul Krugman's closest competition at Fox News when it comes to economic expertise, and accurateness of his or her economic predictions? ...Neil Cavuto?