When the New York Times hired Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman as a columnist, they presumably did so under the assumption that they were gaining an accomplished economist and author to provide opinions that utilize his expertise. Then they gave him a blog. One would have assumed Conscience of a Liberal would be akin to his column, in which Krugman affects the role of Professor and Serious Academic. But no! Krugman’s Korner is a real, increasingly sassy blog, in which the bearded one starts fights with co-workers, airs grievances, expresses distaste for various economic policies by writing open letters to their supporters that incorporate lyrics from his favorite songs, and, most recently, posts music videos he finds on YouTube.
Some of our favorite recent snippets:
August 17, 2009 “Niall Ferguson is … a poseur.”
June 2010: “So wise policy, as defined by the G20 and like-minded others, consists of destroying economic recovery in order to satisfy hypothetical irrational demands from the markets — demands that economies suffer pointless pain to show their determination, demands that markets aren’t actually making, but which serious people, in their wisdom, believe that the markets will make one of these days. Awesome.”
July 2010: “If you don’t understand a brief post like this one, CLICK ON THE LINKS. I’m not putting them there for decorative purposes.”
August 2010: “You know, one might have thought that having all the money in the world would make people less petty, less concerned about whether they feel that they’re in the in-group. But nooooo.”
October 7, 2010
Many reports that Chris Christie is about to scuttle the second rail tunnel under the Hudson. If so, it’s arguably the worst policy decision ever made by the government of New Jersey — and that’s saying a lot… now is very much the time when we should be ramping up infrastructure spending, not cutting it.
Awesome.
October 7, 2010 (later)
“A Video For Chris Christie”
An invective-laced rant directed at Gretchen Morgenstern for moving his lunch to the back of the fridge, timestamped at 2 a.m., can’t be far off.
Blucher! Neighhhh! [Conscience of a Liberal/NYT]
