Krugman, the economic touchstone

If you're like me, you try to follow the news about the economy, digest it, wrap your head around it, all in real time. But its the economy and you ain't THAT bright so eventually you start lagging behind. Admit it.

When you find yourself swirling, lost in that economic punchbowl of confusion, I invite you to read Paul Krugman, if you don't already. His interview on Salon.com on Friday was one of those great opportunities to catch up. Some choice thoughts on the idea du jour that we should just let these failing businesses fail:

There's kind of a weird double-think involved in arguments that the slump should be allowed to follow its natural course. It's true that classical economics says that we should let market forces do their work; but classical economics also says that severe recessions can't happen [my emphasis]. This idea that we must not intervene is based on a worldview that is refuted by the very fact that the economy is in the mess it's in.