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For the record, the complaint most "ivy league nobel prize economists" have with Japan's behavior is not the quantity of spending, but the type -- they didn't f
by earl 16y ago
For the record, the complaint most "ivy league nobel prize economists" have with Japan's behavior is not the quantity of spending, but the type -- they didn't force banks to recognize losses, instead allowing them to renegotiate loans on much more favorable terms, ignore nonperforming loans, etc -- anything to avoid having to bring the losses on books, take the hit, and start over. This causes a lack of loan availability for more than a decade.
Perhaps next time this, err, nobody ("James Quinn is a senior director of strategic planning for a major university") feels like trashing world class economists, he could discuss their actual opinion?
- temphn 16y ago"World class economists" disagree a lot more on economics than world class physicists disagree about inclined planes. For every Krugman there is a Becker, a Hayek, a Friedman. So argument from authority just plain doesn't work in this area.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- fauigerzigerk 16y agoThat's right, but ignoring the point these economists are making doesn't help either. The inability of Japan to deal with bad loans is recognised as a major policy failure by all economists I have ever heard comment on it. Reducing all economic questions to "does government spending work?" is a mistake in my view.
- borism 16y agowow! you really think 2 dead people disagree much with Paul Krugman?
- borism 16y agoyou can downvote me all you want, comparing Krugman to Hayek and Friedman is just plain idiotic. While these two (together, or shall I say in opposition with Keynes) helped lay an important parts of foundation of modern economics, their ideas are just about as relevant nowadays as Newton mechanics to building an interstellar spaceship.
- yummyfajitas 16y agoI'm pretty sure that "ivy league nobel prize economists" == Krugman. It's a fair response to Krugman - Krugman mostly doesn't discuss mechanisms, details, or include caveats. He just pushes the assertion more spending is good, if stimulus failed it's because it wasn't big enough, etc. Occasionally he makes false accusations against his ideological opponents (e.g., the Paul Ryan fiasco). If a columnist is responding Paul Krugman or Glenn Beck types, you shouldn't expect much in the way of depth.
- SeanLuke 16y ago> Paul Krugman or Glenn Beck By equating these two in the same sentence, you undermined all credibility in your previous message. Sorta sad to see an implosion like that.
- yummyfajitas 16y agoNot sure why you object. They are both cheerleaders for their respective teams, heavy on rhetoric, light on facts, willing to bend the truth, primarily preaching to the choir with appeals to emotion (intellectual smugness/moralism in Krugman's case, tribalism/moralism in Becks case). But I suppose I am being a bit unfair in one respect. Unlike Krugman, Beck is occasionally willing to admit that some of the other teams ideas are not that bad (e.g., gay marriage).
- BlazingFrog 16y agoWait, is Beck the guy who calls anything drawn on his blackboard "facts" and Krugman the guy who won that Nobel thingy?