So, my hero, Paul Krugman, got a little sloshed in Paris and...

[CTyankee]

well, here's his latest blog at the NTY...(did I tell you how much I Dr. Krugman?)


How Are These Times Different?

Ah, Paris! You walk for miles and miles — it’s still, after all these years, a spectacularly beautiful city. Then you have as traditional a meal as possible at an old-fashioned bistro, washed down with lots of wine.

And you feel like hell the next morning. Blogging may be a bit limited.

But I’m still thinking about the conference I was just at, and my own reactions. It was a business-y affair, and like all the economics/business conferences I’ve attended, it was full of speakers declaring that everything is different, nothing you learned from the past is relevant, and so on. Hey, I understand — people attend such conferences in large part to get shaken out of their routines, and don’t want curmudgeons telling them that there’s nothing new under the sun.

So I’m kind of an outlier, since when it comes to macro issues I am pretty much a curmudgeon, someone who thinks that the similarities between our time and the 90s in Japan or the 30s everywhere are a lot more important than the differences. But obviously things do change over the decades. And this morning I find myself wondering, how are these times different?

full article here: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/19/how-are-these-times-different/

[BeyondGeography]

1. It stays light out 'til about 11 pm there this time of year

Being in Paris right now is making the most of your life, yes.

A little musical accompaniment, please:

[CTyankee]

2. Great! I gotta go back. I was there in 2011...it IS fabulously beautiful...

I had to laugh at his wine comment. If anything, wine in Europe causes LESS problems because they don't have those additives we have...a glass or two of it with dinner won't make you feel like hell the next day...

[BeyondGeography]

3. Anything more than two glasses and I feel it the next day

I used to drink the plastic bottles as a student for three or four francs apiece. The French were justifiably appalled but, hey, it was their wine.

I haven't done Paris right since 2005 (lived there for three years as a student many moons ago). It's getting to be that time again. The city is man's best attempt at beauty for the benefit of all. Very moving, just the thought of it.

[CTyankee]

10. Yep. 2 glasses over a long meal is not much. That was (is) my metric in Europe, where I go

once a year...

Paris was beyond my imagination when I was there in 2011. I remember walking from the Louvre to the Musee d'Orsay and how lovely it all was....

[pinboy3niner]

4. But a bottle or two...

I haven't been there in decades, but it is a magical city. This time next year I'll met you at La Tour Eiffel...

[CTyankee]

7. It's a deal, pinboy, if we can do it!

Actually, I do have plans to be there on my way back from the South of France in the fall of 2014....

[phantom power]

5. what he's describing is what we all called "the information economy" back in the 90s

Actually manufacturing anything would become highly commoditized, and the "real" asset would become designs, blueprints, content, etc.

Where that would leave the vast majority of people looking for work was usually ignored, or treated with a lot of handwaving.

[MNBrewer]

6. I understand why the President didn't appoint Krugman to his cabinet

I mean, it would be unseemly for Barack Obama to appear to be an overt Democrat. It's not like those of us who voted for him were hoping for change.

[CTyankee]

8. I really do GET PK's objection to being in Obama's administration. It is good that he puts a

distance between himself and Obama. It gives him his freedom to criticize even tho he has been largely in favor of Obama's policies. We need an honest "policeman" on the economy and I trust Dr. K to be that for us...

[MNBrewer]

9. Thank goodness for Krugman.

too bad nobody in the government listens to him.

[CTyankee]

11. Oh, as austerity's reputation has dimmed, his fortunes have gone up, but just not

enough at the government level. I think some people MUST be wising up in the Obama
administration and I am hopeful that they will say "enough" to this damaging austerity policy and try for another stimulus for jobs...

[BrainMann1]

14. You hit the nail on the proverbial political whitehouse appointing head

Krugman diffinantly Kruman
Krugman main man Kruman ( As said in Rain Man)

[treestar]

17. Guess Obama doesn't "love" Dr. Krugman nt

[WillyT]

12. K & R !!!

[CTyankee]

13. incredible city. I felt it was magic when I was there in 2011. I'm going back asap...

[Scuba]

15. Um, it's not about Paris ...

There are a couple of obvious implications from this change in the nature of corporate success. One is that profits are no longer anything remotely resembling a “natural” aspect of the economy; they’re very much an artifact of antitrust policy or the lack thereof, intellectual property policy, etc. Another is that a lot of what we consider output is “produced” at low or zero marginal cost.

emphasis mine

[CTyankee]

18. Yes, Dr. K has a column in today's NYT that re-states that very clearly.

I read him every day and esp. like his online blogs. Altho he gets wonky at times, he at least acknowledges that and tries to get to the heart of the matter than even non-economists can understand. I had one Econ course in grad school and that damn near drove me out of my mind. Krugman has a heart and I think he has gotten more and more progressive as time goes on.

[Berlum]

16. k and r

nt