Monday, July 22, 2013

Krugman’s nasty and inane attack on ‘Libertarian Populism’

Paul Krugman’s Nasty and Inane Attack on ‘Libertarian Populism’ - The Daily Beast - Nick Gillespie:

July 19, 2013 - "It’s got to be a pretty good gig to be Paul Krugman.... He’s got tenure at the second-best college in New Jersey, an equally secure gig at the second-best newspaper in New York, and he’s even copped a Nobel Prize.... Best of all, Krugman has attained that rare level of eminence where he doesn’t even have to engage the very opponents he dismisses as beneath contempt....

"Krugman’s latest target is 'libertarian populism,' which he summarizes thus: 'The idea here is that there exists a pool of disaffected working-class white voters who ... can be mobilized again with the right kind of conservative economic program — and ... can restore the Republican Party’s electoral fortunes.' This ain’t gonna happen, chuffs Krugman, because ... Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.)! Despite the fact that the former Republican vice-presidential nominee and marathon-time amnesiac is nobody’s idea of a libertarian or a populist....

"Had Colonel Krugman ventured outside his ideological compound, he might have happened upon the writings of Tim Carney of The Washington Examiner. To the extent that libertarian populism has a policy agenda, it’s mostly thanks to Carney, who likes to write books attacking right- and left-wing crony capitalists. He’s libertarian in that he consistently believes that freer markets function more fairly and more efficiently, and he generally thinks people should be left alone when it comes to economic and personal freedom (he’s not an absolutist on most things). He’s populist in that he is basically obsessed with what he sees as concentrations of power and wealth among elites who rig markets, status, and more against the little guy."

Read more: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/07/19/paul-krugman-s-nasty-and-inane-attack-on-libertarian-populism.html
Also at: http://reason.com/archives/2013/07/22/paul-krugmans-nasty-and-inane-attack-on
'via Blog this'

Also see: Krugman and "Eliminationist Rhetoric" by George J. Dance

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