Must-Read: Paul Krugman: Debt, Diversion, Distraction

Must-Read: I used to tell people that the United States did not have a long-run exploding deficit problem or an exploding debt problem or a sustainability-of-the-social-insurance system problem. I used to tell people that the United States had a dysfunctional health care finance regulatory system problem.

And, lo and behold, we pass ObamaCare and make health care finance regulation somewhat less dysfunctional:

Has the CRFB noticed this? Do they highlight this in any of their reports?

Paul Krugman: Debt, Diversion, Distraction: “There was a time… when deficit scolds were actively dangerous…

…raising the Medicare age (which wouldn’t even have saved money) and short-term fiscal austerity…. They continue to play a malign role in our national discourse… distract[ing] attention… [and] depriving crucial issues of political oxygen….

Why is this a crucial issue right now? Are debt scolds demanding that we slash spending and raise taxes right away? Actually, no: the economy is still weak, interest rates still low (meaning that the Fed can’t offset fiscal tightening with easy money), and as a matter of macroeconomic prudence we should probably be running bigger, not smaller deficits in the medium term. So proposals… don’t involve actual policy moves now, or for the next 5-10 years…. If you try really hard, you can argue that locking in policies now for this future adjustment will make the transition smoother. But that is really a second-order issue…. By putting the debt question aside, we are NOT in any material way making the future worse… a total contrast with climate change….

So my message to the deficit scolds… I would respectfully request that you people just go away.