You are reading it wrong. There was lots of room to lower rates in response to the 2008 crisis because the rates weren’t low before the recession. After they w

You are reading it wrong. There was lots of room to lower rates in response to the 2008 crisis because the rates weren’t low before the recession. After they were lowered to almost the zero bound there was not much else to do. This one around, they are already low before the recession hits. The situation is not the same, hence the Fed has less wiggle room. And thanks to the tax cuts, and a deficit nearing $1 trillion in a boom economy, there will be less wiggle room for fiscal stimulus vs tax cuts or spending as well, because the deficit will skyrocket if government revenues fall in a recession. Krugman is being consistent and logical here.