NY Times columnist (Krugman) sees gloom in America's future [View All]

[huckleberry]

Tue September 16, 2003 06:02 PM ET
By Mark Egan

NEW YORK, Sept 16 (Reuters) -

... The New York Times pays op-ed columnist Paul Krugman to ruffle feathers. The Princeton University economist has been writing for the Times since 1999 -- work now compiled in his latest book "The Great Unraveling."

In it, Krugman says Bush lied during his 2000 presidential campaign, lied once he took office, turned a record budget surplus into the biggest deficit to line the pockets of the rich and abused the public's patriotism after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"Bush is a leader of a movement that wants to smash the system as we know it, the social contract, the safety net that was built up since Franklin Roosevelt," Krugman said in an interview late on Monday before a party to launch his book.

snip

"The Bushies just say black is white and up is down," Krugman said of the current president. "The Orwellian character of these people is very disturbing."

snip

If Bush loses his job in the 2004 election, Krugman said, the day may yet be saved. But if he wins reelection to the White House, an economic meltdown will become "inevitable."

more at
http://reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml?storyID=3455978&type=bondsNews