5 ms·

I didn't think people still took Paul "The Bigger the Bubble the Better" Krugman seriously anymore.

dctoedt 4y ago
Yes we do — he freely admits when he gets it wrong.
jjtheblunt 4y ago
I wondered if he was ever taken seriously, since he's so (narcissistically?) outlandish, then saw he's got a Nobel prize in economics. I must misunderstand something about him, clearly, or about the Nobel prize process.
- smaddox 4y ago
  The "Nobel prize in economics" isn't a real Nobel prize. It wasn't funded by Nobel, and it isn't issued by the same committee.
  - mananaysiempre 4y ago
    At the same time, as an “economics topics worth reading about” detector it works pretty well as far as I can see. (Some of them will turn out to be rubbish a couple of decades later, but that’s experimental science for you.)
  - throw0101a 4y ago
    > The "Nobel prize in economics" isn't a real Nobel prize. The Nobel Prize people seem to think it is: * https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/ https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/ > It wasn't funded by Nobel, and it isn't issued by the same committee. It is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences: > Every year, the academy awards the Nobel Prizes in physics and chemistry, the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, the Crafoord Prize, the Sjöberg Prize and several other awards. The Academy maintains close relations with foreign academies, learned societies and international scientific organizations and also promotes international scientific cooperation. The Academy of Sciences is located within the Stockholm region's Royal National City Park. * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Swedish_Academy_of_Sciences https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Swedish_Academy_of_Scien... * https://www.nobelprize.org/about/the-economic-sciences-prize-committee/ https://www.nobelprize.org/about/the-economic-sciences-prize... The same folks who do physics and chemistry.
    - smaddox 4y ago
      Keep reading. > Each September the Academy's Economics Prize Committee, which consists of five elected members [...] > Some critics argue that the prestige of the Prize in Economics derives in part from its association with the Nobel Prizes, an association that has often been a source of controversy. Among them is the Swedish human rights lawyer Peter Nobel, a great-grandnephew of Ludvig Nobel. [...] saying that "There is nothing to indicate that he would have wanted such a prize", and that the association with the Nobel prizes is "a PR coup by economists to improve their reputation". https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Memorial_Prize_in_Economic_Sciences https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Memorial_Prize_in_Econ...
- stormbrew 4y ago
  Economics is one of those more dubious Nobel-affiliated prizes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Memorial_Prize_in_Economic_Sciences#Controversies_and_criticisms https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Memorial_Prize_in_Econom...
- agf 4y ago
  What he won a Nobel for (https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2008/krugman/facts/ https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2008/kru...), and what he writes and speaks about in the non-academic realm, are very different. And I don't think the implied "successful people can't be outlandish" holds up, anyway :)
- dimitar 4y ago
  Ignore the Nobel prize for a moment and see his other accomplishments: He is one of the most influential academic economists by number of citations, started a whole new field of Applied Economics (New Economic Geography). His textbooks (including Econ 101 and International Economics, 12 editions since 1987!) sell very well, which must mean that they are well regarded by the professors that assign them. In policy debates around the response to the Great Recession he revived the Liquidity Trap idea central to which was admitted as valid by the central banks and formulated a modern theoretic explanation for it (instead and in addition to the old IS-LM). In his punditry at the New York Times and elsewhere he has represented the mainstream/orthodoxy of economic opinion. The liquidity trap was controversial initially, but it is well accepted now - by central banks, policymakers in governments and economists in the private sector. If you think he is outlandish, you have to check your assumptions to what other academic economists think, and although it might different in style and presentation it will be the same. He is hated intensely for his politics (he has a book called a "The Conscience of a liberal" and hasn't held back criticising people like George W. Bush, Trump and Putin) and by followers of heterodox economic schools and crypto-enthusiasts. It is your loss to ignore his insights.
  - jjtheblunt 4y ago
    I don't ignore his insights. I just said he's outlandish : way outside the usual. His NYT opinion articles are mainstream/orthodoxy according to what measure?
throw0101a 4y ago
> I didn't think people still took Paul "The Bigger the Bubble the Better" Krugman seriously anymore. "The Bigger the Bubble the Better" ? What is this in reference to?
diego_moita 4y ago
Oh yeah! We should definitively trust in random dudes posting on the internet instead. You know, the kind that say that vaccines cause autism, global warming is a hoax, evolution is just a theory, Covid-19 is a scam by the globalists to better control people, ... Wake up, sheeple! /s

Yes we do — he freely admits when he gets it wrong.

I wondered if he was ever taken seriously, since he's so (narcissistically?) outlandish, then saw he's got a Nobel prize in economics. I must misunderstand something about him, clearly, or about the Nobel prize process.

smaddox 4y ago
The "Nobel prize in economics" isn't a real Nobel prize. It wasn't funded by Nobel, and it isn't issued by the same committee.
- mananaysiempre 4y ago
  At the same time, as an “economics topics worth reading about” detector it works pretty well as far as I can see. (Some of them will turn out to be rubbish a couple of decades later, but that’s experimental science for you.)
- throw0101a 4y ago
  > The "Nobel prize in economics" isn't a real Nobel prize. The Nobel Prize people seem to think it is: * https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/ https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/ > It wasn't funded by Nobel, and it isn't issued by the same committee. It is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences: > Every year, the academy awards the Nobel Prizes in physics and chemistry, the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, the Crafoord Prize, the Sjöberg Prize and several other awards. The Academy maintains close relations with foreign academies, learned societies and international scientific organizations and also promotes international scientific cooperation. The Academy of Sciences is located within the Stockholm region's Royal National City Park. * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Swedish_Academy_of_Sciences https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Swedish_Academy_of_Scien... * https://www.nobelprize.org/about/the-economic-sciences-prize-committee/ https://www.nobelprize.org/about/the-economic-sciences-prize... The same folks who do physics and chemistry.
  - smaddox 4y ago
    Keep reading. > Each September the Academy's Economics Prize Committee, which consists of five elected members [...] > Some critics argue that the prestige of the Prize in Economics derives in part from its association with the Nobel Prizes, an association that has often been a source of controversy. Among them is the Swedish human rights lawyer Peter Nobel, a great-grandnephew of Ludvig Nobel. [...] saying that "There is nothing to indicate that he would have wanted such a prize", and that the association with the Nobel prizes is "a PR coup by economists to improve their reputation". https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Memorial_Prize_in_Economic_Sciences https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Memorial_Prize_in_Econ...
stormbrew 4y ago
Economics is one of those more dubious Nobel-affiliated prizes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Memorial_Prize_in_Economic_Sciences#Controversies_and_criticisms https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Memorial_Prize_in_Econom...
agf 4y ago
What he won a Nobel for (https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2008/krugman/facts/ https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2008/kru...), and what he writes and speaks about in the non-academic realm, are very different. And I don't think the implied "successful people can't be outlandish" holds up, anyway :)
dimitar 4y ago
Ignore the Nobel prize for a moment and see his other accomplishments: He is one of the most influential academic economists by number of citations, started a whole new field of Applied Economics (New Economic Geography). His textbooks (including Econ 101 and International Economics, 12 editions since 1987!) sell very well, which must mean that they are well regarded by the professors that assign them. In policy debates around the response to the Great Recession he revived the Liquidity Trap idea central to which was admitted as valid by the central banks and formulated a modern theoretic explanation for it (instead and in addition to the old IS-LM). In his punditry at the New York Times and elsewhere he has represented the mainstream/orthodoxy of economic opinion. The liquidity trap was controversial initially, but it is well accepted now - by central banks, policymakers in governments and economists in the private sector. If you think he is outlandish, you have to check your assumptions to what other academic economists think, and although it might different in style and presentation it will be the same. He is hated intensely for his politics (he has a book called a "The Conscience of a liberal" and hasn't held back criticising people like George W. Bush, Trump and Putin) and by followers of heterodox economic schools and crypto-enthusiasts. It is your loss to ignore his insights.
- jjtheblunt 4y ago
  I don't ignore his insights. I just said he's outlandish : way outside the usual. His NYT opinion articles are mainstream/orthodoxy according to what measure?

throw0101a 4y ago

> I didn't think people still took Paul "The Bigger the Bubble the Better" Krugman seriously anymore. "The Bigger the Bubble the Better" ? What is this in reference to?

diego_moita 4y ago

Oh yeah! We should definitively trust in random dudes posting on the internet instead. You know, the kind that say that vaccines cause autism, global warming is a hoax, evolution is just a theory, Covid-19 is a scam by the globalists to better control people, ... Wake up, sheeple! /s