Comments on: Krugman distorts how CA works

By: SkippingDog

SkippingDog — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 01:14:30 +0000

A cold war is not the same as a hot war. Ask anyone who’s been in the latter to explain the difference to you. I remember the 60’s and 70’s quite clearly, having served in SAC during the early 1970’s when we knew the difference between cold wars and hot.

As to you, jimmy, a look at the chart above shows the Reagan year budgets beginning at something below 30% debt to GDP and ending somewhere between 65% and 70% or so. That’s more than a 100% increase in the debt to GDP ratio by your icon of fiscal conservatism.

By: jimmydeeoc

jimmydeeoc — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 17:17:24 +0000

Thanks to Soquel for pointing out Doggy’s mis-remembering.

But even at a more basic level:

“…..It’s also interesting that the same chart shows the Debt/GDP under Reagan increased about 150%…”

Really? 1980-88 looks like it went from @ 30% to @ 50%. That’s 2/3, or 67% ….not 150%.

Graphical interpretation and proportional analysis: More math-based skills liberals lack.

By: @SoquelCreek

@SoquelCreek — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 16:55:30 +0000

SkippingDog, nice revisionist history! You said “even though we weren’t at war during his [Reagan’s] administration.”

Perhaps you’re too young to remember. May I suggest you look up the following terms?

* USSR (Soviet Union)
* Cold War
* Mutually Assured Destruction
* Berlin Wall
* “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

The Cold War, in fact, was fought during the Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Carter, and Reagan eras.

By: jgobserver

jgobserver — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 16:42:21 +0000

krugman advocates that deficits are not important. That alone makes anything he says not worth reading. California has a major problem with high taxes. That is business will be more likely to locate elsewhere. Consider Intel where most of its expansion went to Oregon and Arizona. San Jose had to pay Samsung $7M in incentives as a ransom to keep the company in San Jose. People voted to increase tax on high income individuals. High income individuals make the decision where to start or expand a business. California raises taxes to pay for things like the high speed train that will never pay for itself and it will be a drain on the treasury for all future years. The under funded pension will eventually force the democrat majority to go against their union benefactors. Consider the mayor of Chicago and public unions. The future in California is bleak at best and we have a democrat majority who will not be inclined to do anything to correct it.

By: Ulysses Uhaul

Ulysses Uhaul — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 16:06:59 +0000

Krugman loves to get your goat! No thinking person believes him….doomer’s relax and smell the thistle!

By: Brown delta trout

Brown delta trout — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:34:08 +0000

It’s OK to spend money if the future looks bright and you have future commitments that guarantee spending. But if you look at what is going on now economincally how things don’t look so rosy, it seems prudent to restrain yourself before you spend so much that you will never recover. Unless you hell bent on throwing it all in. It’s called self restraint, something liberals are not know for.

By: SkippingDog

SkippingDog — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 04:49:33 +0000

If the actual costs of the two wars initiated under GWB had been accurately included in his budgets, his line would have a much steeper rise than the cocamamie chart included with this article.

It’s also interesting that the same chart shows the Debt/GDP under Reagan increased about 150%, even though we weren’t at war during his administration – except for beating up on Grenada.

Interesting, also, is the apparent fact that our Debt/GDP ratio was the lowest in modern history under Carter, whom “conservatives” and Republicans love to disparage, even as they applaud Reagan for driving up the Debt.

Is it possible that these judgements are made on nothing more than politics?

By: @SoquelCreek

@SoquelCreek — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 02:05:20 +0000

Then again, this is the same Paul Krugman who advocated that the government fake an alien invasion to spur additional government spending. He, like many others in Washington, is what passes for serious leadership these days. We can do better.

Paul Krugman: Fake Alien Invasion Would End Economic Slump (VIDEO)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/15/paul-krugman-fake-alien-invasion_n_926995.html

By: @SoquelCreek

@SoquelCreek — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 02:03:14 +0000

Krugman is perhaps the most intellectually dishonest “academic” in media. He’s not stupid. He knows the truth but the truth doesn’t jive with his agenda.

I, too, encourage him to come to California. Surely his massive intellect will solve all that’s wrong with California, which Democrats call “the oasis of Democratic politics.” See what this actually means for everyday Californians.
http://soquelbythecreek.blogspot.com/2012/10/california-oasis-of-democrat-politics.html

Krugman’s puff-piece on California isn’t unique. Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post had a similar offering to the cult of Brown.
http://prospect.org/article/once-and-future-gov

Funny, though, how Meyerson’s official bio forgets to mention that he’s a vice-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), representing the far, far Left extreme of the Democratic party.
http://www.dsausa.org/our_structure

You don’t get to be in California’s situation overnight. It takes decades of mismanagement and bad policy decisions.

By: Dyspeptic

Dyspeptic — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 01:13:34 +0000

The bearded wonder, like most of his ivy league regressive ilk, lives in some bizarre alternate universe which only randomly impinges on what the rest of us like to think of as reality.

Has anyone ever seen the Professor smile? He looks like he’s wrapped tighter than a cheap cigar. I hope he doesn’t have one of those special celebrity concealed handgun permits, ’cause he looks like he could go off at any minute.

If you could convert his egomania to electricity we could power the country for the next century.