Paul Krugman Looks Back at the Last Twenty Years of the Macroeconomic Policy Debate
Everybody interested in macroeconomics or macroeconomic policy should know this topic backwards and forwards by heart. My problem is that I do not see how I can add value to it. The only thing I can think of to do is to propose two rules:
- Paul Krugman is right.
- If you think Paul Krugman is wrong, refer to rule #1.
I do wish that those who were not bad actors who made mistakes would ‘fess up to them. Those who don’t will get moved to the “bad actor” category: and, yes, I am looking at you, Marvin Goodfriend.
The only remaining question, I think, is whether these should all be read in chronological or reverse chronological order. I find myself torn, with arguments on both sides having force:
- Paul Krugman (2018): It’s Baaack, Twenty Years Later https://www.gc.cuny.edu/CUNY_GC/media/LISCenter/pkrugman/Its-baaack.pdf
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Olivier Blanchard and Daniel Leigh (2013): Growth Forecast Errors and Fiscal Multipliers http://delong.typepad.com/wp1301.pdf
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Paul Krugman (2011): Ricardian Confusions() https://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/ricardian-confusions-wonkish/
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Paul Krugman (2009b): One more time https://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/06/one-more-time/
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Paul Krugman (2009a): A Dark Age of macroeconomics https://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/a-dark-age-of-macroeconomics-wonkish/
Ben Bernanke (1999): Japanese Monetary Policy: A Case of Self-Induced Paralysis? https://www.princeton.edu/~pkrugman/bernanke_paralysis.pdf
- Paul Krugman (1998): It’s Baaack: Japan’s Slump and the Return of the Liquidity Trap http://delong.typepad.com/krugman_its_back.pdf