EP,
We'll have to disagree about Krugman. Rather than being unobjective as you suggest, I find him refreshingly liberal. He's a partisan, and darn good at it.
Speaking of conservative vs. liberal economic visions, the Thom Hartmann radio program today had an interesting segment where Thom discussed that while Americans are forced to live to work for a tiny oligarchy of conservative thieves, in Europe they are enjoying an economy that works for the people instead of the other way around. There is no sane way for Americans to claim that our economy is succeeding when 45 million people have no health care coverage, while in Europe, every citizen, 100% of the population has insured health care. Surely America must be regarded as an abject failure in this regard.
Work to live or live to work? While Americans on average have less than two weeks paid vacation per annum, in Europe that averages five weeks, with Denmark taking the lead in moving that up to six weeks.
I've examined the empty claims of American conservative think tank talking heads about how awful the economy is in Europe. I don't buy into this propaganda for a nanosecond. What I tend to notice is that the lower reported European economic growth rates have more to do with honest reporting in Europe and fraudulent statistics in the U.S. than any other cause.
Which is part of why I find Krugman so refreshing. Unlike the zealots and mad dogs at Cato, AEI, the Club for Growth, etc., Krugman seems to be dealing with reality-based facts. |
