There is no other mainstream economist who has the propensity to dismiss everything he disagrees with as malevolent, macabre, and meretricious than the first-ever fake news award winner, Paul Krugman.
In today’s toxic political environment, the left takes great pride in declaring everyone right of Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and everything right of the Green New Deal as Hitlerian. But Krugman adopted this shtick before it was cool to sound like a paranoiac who runs around parking lots in the nude screaming about socialism. Sound money? Hitler. Austerity? Nazism. Deflation? The Third Reich. (It’s ironic that he complained about the right comparing former President Barack Obama and his administration to Hitler.)
Krugman has ostensibly gone all in on the worst possible descriptors of President Donald Trump and the Republican Party. In his latest New York Times blog post, titled “Republicans Are the Real Extremists,” he described the GOP as extremists, conspiracy theorists, enemies of democracy, white nationalists, and sexists. It was as if he binge-watched the Counterfeit News Network the night before and just finished a brainwashing session at the Southern Poverty Law Center. But that wasn’t all.
Trumponomics: Yea or Nay?
Krugman begins his recent opinion piece by disparaging President Trump and his policies, calling them a “failure” and “unpopular.” It’s unclear which policies he’s referring to, though he makes a passing reference to the tax cuts. Let’s use that as a barometer.
It is true that polls show the 2017 tax reform legislation has been largely unpopular among the American people, likely due to the mostly negative press from the mainstream media. But should polls serve as a measurement if something is effective or not? When someone is asked what they want to see more in a newspaper, they will typically say business, foreign news, and crosswords, but they really prefer more sports, entertainment, and word searches. The same can be said of politics.
When one half of the country detests the president, there is no way they’re going to concede an inch to Trump.
The better way to determine if the tax cuts worked is using real life examples and data. In the aftermath of the tax cuts, Corporate America decided to go on an investing binge, raising their minimum wages, offering bonuses, improving workplace infrastructure, and enhancing or introducing benefits. Moreover, job creation is averaging 200,000 per month, wages keep climbing, and the personal savings rate is hovering around 8%.
Krugman later mentions in his op-ed that the majority of the country thinks the rich pay too little in taxes. Sure, they can believe this, but it’s not true. The wealthy pay most of the nation’s tax bill.
Does Krugman really believe that the tax cuts are not working, or is he just being a partisan hack?
Fox News Propaganda
For years, Krugman and his left-leaning brethren have been on a constant barrage against the Fox News Channel, claiming that it is a mouthpiece for the Republicans. Krugman was at it again, accusing the GOP of “commanding a powerful propaganda machine.” He also complained how Fox News and its sister station, the Fox Business Network, apparently referred to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) 6,000 times in a six-week period.
What is often omitted from the handwringing against Fox News is that the network’s right-wing slant is nothing compared to the force of the left-wing bias of ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, and NBC. Although Fox is a ratings juggernaut, if you combine the viewership of these leftist networks, then the home of Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham is a drop in the bucket.
Fox News is exposing Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, but this reportage is only offsetting the favorable coverage that she receives from the other bewitched and infatuated major players in cable news.
Criticism is [Insert Ism Here]
According to Krugman, any concerns over the extremism of AOC and Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) “are just a cover for sexism and white nationalism.” He further states – one can only hope in jest – that neither women are “staking out policy positions that are extreme.” As William F. Buckley said, “I won't insult your intelligence by suggesting that you really believe what you just said.”
Does the Nobel Prize recipient really think that criticizing someone’s policies is sexist and racist? By this admission, he possibly subscribes to Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s idea that requesting a debate is akin to “catcalling.” Krugman is likely trying to avoid debate over their vacuous proposals. And, does he also genuinely believe the Green New Deal, Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), 70% tax rates, and open borders are not extreme? If a politician is advocating abolishing the combustion engine, handing over the printing press to Congress, and guaranteeing an income even for those “unwilling to work,” then common sense would dictate that that is extreme.
Moore Extremism
But do you know who is the real extremist? Why, none other than Stephen Moore, the president’s conservative pick to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. According to Krugman:
“What’s coming out only now, however, is the extent of Mr. Moore’s political extremism. Many of his past statements — like his assertion that ‘capitalism is a lot more important than democracy’ — sound like a liberal caricature of conservatism. But it’s not a caricature; Mr. Moore shows us what the right actually thinks.”
Paul Krugman
So, what makes Moore an extremist and not someone like Rep. Omar? He disagrees with Moore’s stances, such as swapping an income tax with a sales tax, privatizing Social Security, and eliminating hundreds of jobs from the Federal Reserve. A lot of people would dispute Moore’s recommendations, but they’re far from being extreme. Many tax reformists are in favor of a general consumption tax, Sweden has privatized its version of Social Security (Krugman has written many love letters to Scandinavia), and the Fed is a monstrosity that has done more harm than good.
However, to the mind of Krugman, giving everyone a pot of cash is sensible and changing the tax structure is destructive.
Paul Krugman: Economic Extremist?
Using the same criteria as Krugman would leave you asking: Is Paul Krugman an extremist? Let’s be candid: The principles of Keynesianism -- such as money-printing will create prosperity, broken windows will stimulate the economy, and economies need bubbles to generate new wealth – are extreme. As we have learned in just the last decade, easy money has indebted more Americans, war and natural disasters destroy lives, and the housing crash left behind reckless abandon. What’s next? A space alien invasion to spur economic growth? Oh, wait. Never mind.
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