I start with a confession; I am an economist.
Paul Krugman is a brilliant economist. When he began writing his NY Times op-ed columns I was utterly delighted. Here was a chance for some excellent popular economics journalism, writing that could reach a broad audience while still being rooted in sound economic analysis. Good for the economics profession, good for readers, good for the policy dialogue, where economists are often disgregarded.
Why oh why did Krugman decide that he should be a political commentator instead? Why not stick to economics? His column in today's Times, "Divided We Stand", yet another piece by him in which nothing that Hillary Clinton does is subject to any sort of critical scrutiny, and Obama and his supporters are conflated and subject to sweeping criticisms, all in the context of superficial political analysis that sounds more like personal venting than the writings of a thoughtful person.
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