DeLong Smackdown Watch: Paul Krugman Inveighs Against Rational Reconstructions of What Your Adversaries Ought to Have Said...

Paul Krugman watch:

Anti-Straw Men And Austerity: There should be a standard phrase for the construction of anti-straw-men — for attributing to your intellectual opponents sophisticated, reasonable positions they do not in fact hold, ignoring the nonsense they actually espouse. Whatever you call it, that’s what Brad DeLong is doing in his comment on a previous post of mine. Brad suggests a possible “confidence” argument for fiscal austerity, and also suggests that this must be what lies...