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February 20, 2004 What happened to the economist? Paul Krugman: Yale-trained economist/Princeton economics professor/1991 winner of the John Bates Clark Medal has made his reputation "largely on work in international trade and finance". Within that work, he has consistently been an advocate of free trade. In 1998, he attacked Dick Gephardt for protectionism, writing... Ultimately, that's what is most disturbing about Gephardt's rise. It shows that the electorate is still in the market for snake oil salesmen. ... Gephardt is telling us that all that we need to do is act tough: stand up to the foreigners, eyeball to eyeball, and all our problems will go away. This is wrong (and Gephardt probably knows it is wrong). Worse, it is childish and irresponsible. Sad to say, it sells.In 2002, Krugman criticized Bush over protectionism, writing... Let's be clear: Many Democrats were on the wrong side of the steel issue. But it was up to Mr. Bush to show leadership, to demonstrate that he really cares about the principles he espouses. I guess not.Also in 2002, Krugman criticized Bush's protectionism again, writing.... The reason we manage to have fairly free trade is that the world — under U.S. leadership — has evolved a system that pits the self-interest of exporters against the power of industries that would prefer not to compete with imports.In 1994, Krugman said... ...saying that we should be protectionists because other countries are is like saying that, because other countries have got rocky coasts, we should mine our own harbors. I mean, this is not a sensible policy. So here's my question: Since the Democratic candidates for President - both Kerry and Edwards - are advocating protectionism, why is Krugman so silent? When the topic of Paul Krugmans own expertise is front page material on NYTimes.com, why does Paul Krugman not have a word of criticism? Paul Krugman once said "That global economy was killed by protectionism between World War I and World War II. It can happen again. Yet, now that Democrats are just begging for similar criticism, it seems that free trade is no longer of interest to the Professor. Why ever do you suppose that might be? |