Paul Krugman vs. The Space Aliens

Economics is called the dismal science for damned good reason. It’s not a science at all. Real science has tests hypotheses against results. A scientist who has peddled garbage theory will find himself quickly ridiculed by the scientific community once they are found out. There is no such test in economics and therefore no accountability.

Has any economist ever been right? Perhaps in the short term but in the long term they are about as dependable as the false prophets of the Old Testament. The reward of the false prophet was to be stoned to death. Lucky for Paul Krugman we aren’t playing by the Old Testament rules. Maybe we should!

Paul Krugman is yet another…(wait for it!)…Ivy League genius, just like Larry Summers and Ben Bernanke. Krugman went to Yale rather Harvard but he has compensated to proved to be just as much a total moron as anyone who has passed through Harvard Yard. In addition, Paul Krugman has received a Nobel Prize for his “work” but if Barack Obama can be awarded the dynamite award, then anybody can. In fact, the standards of the Nobel Prize has been so degraded that the committee has to offer a big pile of bribe money just to get people to take the damn thing.

Currently Krugman publishes his inanities in the New York Times. Before that he was  a bought-and-paid for Enron shill. So, it appears that Krugman is the kind of flim-flam huckster who trades one shady organization for another. Good to see that his Ivy League education is being put to good use.

As an economist, Krugman’s answer to any economic problem is always the same: stimulus today, stimulus tomorrow, stimulus until the Sun explodes 10 million years from now. Mr. Krugman has a large liberal following, which only proves that liberals aren’t really paying attention to what Paul Krugman really believes. These include:

•  Compared opposition against free trade and globalization as the same as opposition against evolution via natural selection
• argued that “sweatshops” are preferable to unemployment
• dismissed the case for ‘living wages
• questioned NASA’s manned space flights

What a great guy! And it is the last of these that is particularly interesting as in a recent Time magazine article recounts a conversation between Mr. Krugman and the Indian double-agent Fareed Zakaria “If we discovered that space aliens were planning to attack, and we needed a massive build-up to counter the space alien threat, and inflation and budget deficits took secondary place to that, this slump would be over in 18 months,”  said Krugman. Let me get this straight. Paul Krugman questioned the usefulness of manned space flight but wants to defend against a supposed alien invasion.

Right!

Rick Perry vs. The Outsourcer

Originally posted at www.gipsytim.com

 

Since I live in Texas, I know that the whole Rick Perry economic miracle falls far short of Republican claims.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Texas unemployment is running at 8.2 %. That hardly sounds miraculous to me. Still, Governor Perry does have a point when his economic record is compared to that of Mitt Romney.

The Slickster likes to tout his so called business skills. But Mitt Romney actually created nothing. He likes to tout Staples as evidence of his genius, but Staples already existed as a company. All Romney did through Bain Financial was to invest in a company that was already successful to allow it to expand in more locations faster. Mitt Romney is less the second coming of Warren Buffet than he is the jerk who ships your job to China. And on this, Rick Perry has Mitt Romney by the balls.

I can fault Rick Perry for many things, but Perry never outsourced American jobs the way Mitt Romney has. Mitt Romney’s modus operandi at Bain Financial followed the standard business school formula:  “As an executive, Romney would buy struggling companies, break them up and ship parts to foreign low wage countries.” But karma is a bitch and paid Romney back in spades when he was Governor of Massachusetts. During the Slickster’s tenure jobs left Massachusetts and the irony was that it was because of sleazy MBAs not all that different from Romney himself. Consider some of the gems the Slickster uttered as Governor as jobs exited Massachusetts.

 

• “Massachusetts is a world-class center of innovation,” Romney said. “Let’s work together to keep our jobs and keep our employers here in our state where they belong.” Governor Mitt Romney. Source 03-22-2004 Press Release

 

• “I am very concerned about outsourcing. The reality of today’s business climate is that a growing number of companies are sending their best jobs out of state,” Romney said. “Whether it’s the loss of one job or 100,000 jobs, it’s a very real issue for all of us. These common sense initiatives will help slow outsourcing and speed up insourcing.” Governor Mitt Romney. Source 03-22-2004 Press Release

 

• “In Massachusetts, we are losing jobs to other countries and other states,” Romney said. “Manufacturing jobs have fled from Massachusetts for decades. But, the new wave of outsourcing is particularly alarming because it involves the very jobs that replaced those jobs that were lost.” Governor Mitt Romney. Source 03-02-2004 Press Release

 

• “Now, we are seeing the loss of highly skilled manufacturing positions we believed were secure. We are seeing outsourcing in clerical, financial services, accounting, engineering, software and other areas. The promise that education is a sure road to job security is very much in question.” Governor Mitt Romney. Source 03-02-2004 Press Release

 

• “I am fighting to bring new jobs to Massachusetts and to keep the ones we have here,” Romney said. “If the Legislature fails to reform our unemployment insurance system, if it fails to bring it into line with all the other states in America, you will not see jobs come here, you will see them leave here.” Governor Mitt Romney. Source 03-02-2004 Press Release

 

• “We need to get the balance right,” said Romney. “We have an opportunity to work together to reform the system so that Massachusetts continues to provide the best benefit package in the country, but at the same time lessens the cost of retaining and creating jobs in the state.” Governor Mitt Romney. Source 03-02-2004Press Release

 

Absolutely hilarious!

Of course Perry, couldn’t resist that the first shot at Romney. “Running a state is different from running a business,” he said, according to Ben Smith. “Take a look at his record when he was governor, take a look at my record when I was governor,” said Perry. And Rick Perry has a very good point. At time of high unemployment, do you really want to bet upon someone like Mitt Romney whose only experience with American jobs is destroying them?