Paul Krugman's Blog, page 643
March 27, 2009
What's our gold standard?
I've just reread Eichengreen and Temin, The Gold Standard and the Great Depression, which does a great job of showing how the "gold mentality" - what they call mentalite, with an accent - paralyzed policymakers. (The longer-form version, with more personal color, is Liaquat Ahamad's Lords of Finance.)
What E&T show is that circa 1930 [...:]
What E&T show is that circa 1930 [...:]
European stability
A fine article in the Times about how Europe's strong welfare states soften the impact of recession. I think it's important, however, to distinguish between the role of the welfare state in stabilizing society and its role in stabilizing GDP.
On the social front, there's a quantum difference. For given depth of recession, the human suffering [...:]
On the social front, there's a quantum difference. For given depth of recession, the human suffering [...:]
Was I unfair?
A reader writes in to complain about today's column, in which I compared the supposedly productive activities of financial wizards to the sleight-of-hand of stage magicians.
As a magician, he resents being compared to investment bankers.
As a magician, he resents being compared to investment bankers.
