If anything, however, the 99 percent slogan aims too low. A large fraction of the top 1 percent’s gains have actually gone to an even smaller group, the top 0.1 percent — the richest one-thousandth of the population.
Yep, that's right. Now it's the 0.1 %. How convenient! The brand-spanking-new rallying cry safely moves Krugman, Michael Moore, and other babbling idiots OUT of the hated "capitalist pig" category, while preserving their socialist ideological rantings AND their piles of loot.
While it can be argued that many of the OWSers crapping in our streets are homeless folks, drug burnouts from the 60s, Marxist professors, and spoiled rotten trust-fund babies, I believe that many more people support the spirit of the protest (watching events from their living rooms) and are intelligent, serious people FED UP with a broken government and a corrupt financial/banking system. I don't think Krugman's machinations will fool them one bit.
As a sidenote: why would anyone listen to Krugman anyway? His economics textbooks, used in universities everywhere, have been instrumental in running our entire economy off the road and into a mud bog. He's the LAST person I'd ask for economic advice.
I despise Krugman and his ilk, I really do. :-L
ReplyDeleteIt's analagous to the oldest admonition in engineering- "don't assume away the problem". Krugman does just that here.
ReplyDeleteGreat writing as always, lady red.
ReplyDeletelr and all,
ReplyDeleteThis post is a great sketch of the Krugman-esque economic style.
It pertains to Britain but it applies to the Fed as well.
Now... as far as it goes... IMHO, the analysis is "correct".
Meaning: money printing is not, in these circumstances, directly inflationary the way it was in Weimar Germany or modern Zimbabwe.
But the economic consequences for people - forget the 99% for a moment and consider the bottom 50% of people - for those folks especially, the consequences are devastating.
Those people see declining wages, massive unemployment, and seriously increasing prices for basic necessities.
But hey, no "wage/price spiral", so it's all for the good.
And the bankers live to see another day.
It makes you wonder whose side the "liberal" economists are on.
[Actually, the above argument isn't completely fair to Krugman... but eff him - he's a monstrous twister of facts so he has it coming.]
Ouch, lewy, you're making my head hurt.
ReplyDeleteSorry flo... Try this post. Or this one.
ReplyDelete