Krugman responds to RedNuts' dumb complaints about him

[Michchamp]

link.

responding to the tone and some of the issues he's addressed in his column:

... Outsider positions, like that of being an iconoclastic columnist at the New York Times, require a lot of effort to get peoples? attention. It wasn?t nice to characterize the doctrine of expansionary austerity as "belief in the confidence fairy," but I do believe that it focused the discussion in a way that a less caustic approach would not have achieved.

And one more point: writing effectively requires that you have a voice, that the passion shows ? and too much self-censorship can get in the way, making the writing dull and stiff. Obviously no four-letter words ? and while I may sometimes envy Matt Taibbi his vampire squid, rudeness in my part of the commentariat has to be within certain bounds. But pretending to respect views that you don?t isn?t, and shouldn?t, be part of the job description for economists trying to grapple with these important issues.
​

 

[redandguilty]

I'm not really sure if this is supposed to be directed at me or not. On one hand, I've discussed Krugman on this board with you before, on the other hand, I never made the point discussed here. I've never criticized Krugman's tone or passion or caustic approach. It would be ok with me if he went even further in this regard. I think Taibbi is great.

Then again, you do have a tendency to put people in boxes that don't fit. Any criticism of Krugman = all criticism of Krugman. Or maybe you're still listening to those voices in your head you were talking about earlier.

 

[Michchamp]

I'm not really sure if this is supposed to be directed at me or not. On one hand, I've discussed Krugman on this board with you before, on the other hand, I never made the point discussed here. I've never criticized Krugman's tone or passion or caustic approach. It would be ok with me if he went even further in this regard. I think Taibbi is great.

Then again, you do have a tendency to put people in boxes that don't fit. Any criticism of Krugman = all criticism of Krugman. Or maybe you're still listening to those voices in your head you were talking about earlier.

if I remember correctly, your specific problem with Krugman was that he didn't limit his efforts on his blog solely to criticising other economists, or keep the discussion entirely technical.

 

[Michchamp]

I'm not really sure if this is supposed to be directed at me or not. ...

I thought it was obvious from the thread title, but I guess not.

 

[redandguilty]

if I remember correctly, your specific problem with Krugman was that he didn't limit his efforts on his blog solely to criticising other economists, or keep the discussion entirely technical.

Sort of, I never said anything about limiting his criticism solely to other economists, but I do think he spends too much time on the dumbest topics being discussed. I think it's a little tragic when a Nobel winning economist is down in the mud arguing that Sarah Palin shouldn't be "putting a target" on Democrats (or whatever the language was). Stewart and Colbert do an excellent job responding to the dumb stuff. It's a waste for Krugman to try to address the same topics. But Krugman isn't responding to a criticism of the topics he picks. You pulled that idea out of the air.

 

[redandguilty]

I thought it was obvious from the thread title, but I guess not.

I was thinking about addressing the title, but it crosses the raunch line for public forums for me. Sometimes I feel like I go too far with rudeness as it is. I know the regulars can take it, but you never know who's going to read this stuff.

 

[Michchamp]

I was thinking about addressing the title, but it crosses the raunch line for public forums for me. Sometimes I feel like I go too far with rudeness as it is. I know the regulars can take it, but you never know who's going to read this stuff.

I thought um... it was pretty mild.

i mean, deathroh went as deathballz for an entire year on espn.com.

 

[redandguilty]

I thought um... it was pretty mild.

i mean, deathroh went as deathballz for an entire year on espn.com.

In general, it is pretty mild for the internet, but I my views on my own behavior have become more strict somewhat. I used to think of this stuff as anonymous, but acquaintances see this stuff and it gets stored in servers and companies figure out who's who and you never know when and where it will pop up.

 

[Michchamp]

In general, it is pretty mild for the internet, but I my views on my own behavior have become more strict somewhat. I used to think of this stuff as anonymous, but acquaintances see this stuff and it gets stored in servers and companies figure out who's who and you never know when and where it will pop up.

indeed...

see, e.g. spokeo. the amount of the fine is laughable. countless stories like this over the last two decades really undermines any sort of claims that business needs to be afraid of government.

thanks red. you've shamed me into realizing I need to be more discrete, which is impossible, so that means posting less...

 

[byco42]

They forgot the hyphen in the word "conscience" in the headline.

 

[tinselwolverine]

Does Krugman know where CD rates will be in two years?

 

[Michchamp]

Does Krugman know where CD rates will be in two years?

No, but at least he didnt sell out by acting in a bank commercial...

 

[tinselwolverine]

Well, if Krugman doesn't know, then nobody knows...