Paul Krugman:The 3 A.M. Call

[cal04]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/29/opinion/29krugman.html

It’s 3 a.m., a few months into 2009, and the phone in the White House rings. Several big hedge funds are about to fail, says the voice on the line, and there’s likely to be chaos when the market opens. Whom do you trust to take that call?

I’m not being melodramatic. The bailout plan released yesterday is a lot better than the proposal Henry Paulson first put out — sufficiently so to be worth passing. But it’s not what you’d actually call a good plan, and it won’t end the crisis. The odds are that the next president will have to deal with some major financial emergencies.

So what do we know about the readiness of the two men most likely to end up taking that call? Well, Barack Obama seems well informed and sensible about matters economic and financial. John McCain, on the other hand, scares me.

About Mr. Obama: it’s a shame that he didn’t show more leadership in the debate over the bailout bill, choosing instead to leave the issue in the hands of Congressional Democrats, especially Chris Dodd and Barney Frank. But both Mr. Obama and the Congressional Democrats are surrounded by very knowledgeable, clear-headed advisers, with experienced crisis managers like Paul Volcker and Robert Rubin always close at hand.

Then there’s the frightening Mr. McCain — more frightening now than he was a few weeks ago.

[Eric J in MN]

1. Bernie Sanders or Dennis Kucinich.

Not someone who supports the bailout.

[n2doc]

10. Good luck finding them in your ballot n/t

[depakid]

11. And that's relevant ot the OP how?

[Eric J in MN]

31. "Whom do you trust to take that call?"

...is a question in the Original Post.

[BrklynLiberal]

2. Irony for you..Robert Rubin was once the head of Goldman Sachs...like Paulson.

[Annoyinglysmart]

3. "We’ve known for a long time, of course, that Mr. McCain doesn’t know much about economics"

Ouch.

[hay rick]

4. Avoidance-avoidance.

Conservative Republicans report that in contacts from their constituents, opposition to the bailout "plan" is running 100-1 to 150-1 against. I'm guessing they used to get the same kind of response from their constituents on global warming. Some things are difficult to understand and the reward for making the effort is an informed opinion on which course of action represents the lesser evil. As Mr. Krugman is wont to say, where are the adults? Time to bone up on credit default swaps.

[ShortnFiery]

5. I learned "the essentials" about Mr. Paul Krugman's TRUE character by the way

he LIED about Obama during the Primaries. Sorry, I don't trust him. :thumbsdown:

[Larkspur]

7. No, he did not lie about Obama

He rightly criticized him during the primary and still does today. Only Obama fanatics would myopically see Krugman as an enemy of Obama.

Krugman was one of the earliest newspaper columnists to warn us about Bush's policies. He's been right about Bush for nearly 8 years. I trust Krugman's judgement more than I do Obama's.

[ShortnFiery]

8. No, Krugman LIED and shilled for HRC. I'm not a fanatic, but it goes to character.

:(

[girl gone mad]

9. He has been wrong about the crisis on numerous occasions, too.

As much as I do respect his insight, he made several inaccurate predictions over the past few years.

[Larkspur]

20. Name them.

[depakid]

12. Krugman didn't lie

You just didn't like what he said. And like some of the more unflattering of Obama supporters- threw him under the bus.

Along with most anyone else who said or did things you didn't like.

[ShortnFiery]

14. Krugman showed an unseamly underbelly - I don't trust him. eom

[Larkspur]

19. Krugman was honest with his disagreement. Obama fanatics are unseemly

about their irrational hatred of Krugman and any who dare disagree with their idol, Obama.

[ShortnFiery]

22. Oh stop calling us "fanatics" ... Krugman was smarmy and he is a man NOT to be trusted.

That's my opinion and most people who read his TOXIC COMMENTARIES regarding Obama.

Give it a rest, we disagree. It's a simple as that - I don't trust him.

[Larkspur]

27. Not all of us trust "Saint" Obama either

[ShortnFiery]

30. See, I don't idolize any of them - but I do know when a person is compromising his/her

integrity to shill for a political candidate. That, IMNSHO, is what Krugman did for HRC. No, I want Obama to come out against this SCAM. I'm sadly disappointed that he has not. Yet, I still believe that Obama is a man of integrity. The foregoing can not be said, IMO, about Krugman.

[Larkspur]

33. What evidence do you have that Krugman compromised himself?

You are just spouting the nonsense idol worshipers do to protect their idol.

Krugman never said Obama did not have integrity. He disagreed with some of Obama's policy positions. Contrary to you and your fellow Obama fanatics, Obama welcomes dissent, at least that is what he publicly said when describing his management style.

[CAcyclist]

36. Name-calling does not impress me

Paul Krugman's criticisms of Obama were based on fact and not opinion. He is one of the most brilliant economic commentators we have.

[depakid]

21. Considering the nature of your posts

it's not like you have any credibility.

In fact, one guesses that if Krugman came out against the legislation. you'd be praising him.

[ShortnFiery]

23. Back at ya! When you attack "the person," you've conceded the argument.

Apology accepted. :evilgrin:

[depakid]

25. You haven't "argued" anything

You've simply been pissing on the thread with empty language suitable for a 14 year old.

[ShortnFiery]

26. Wow! How mature. You've been screaming with your dress held over you head throughout this entire

thread. No, not everybody admires Krugman - we don't have to convince you and we don't deserve to be called fanatics. No, his attacks were nasty and he does not deserve my trust.

[Larkspur]

28. Not everyone admires Obama, including those of us who voted for him

because he was the lesser of 2 evils in the Dem Primary.

[ShortnFiery]

29. The attacks were unwarranted - Krugman was HRC's bitch and it showed.

See, not everyone admires Krugman. ;)

[Larkspur]

34. Where's the evidence that Krugman was HRC's "bitch"?

Betcha you can't find it.

[Larkspur]

17. You sound just like the HRC fanatics who blamed sexism for her loss

Krugman never bashed Obama. He did disagree with him on some of his issues. This is America. We're allowed to disagree with our leaders.

I voted for Obama in CT's Feb. 5 primary and I shared many of Krugman's disagreements with Obama. I was an "Anybody but Clinton" voter.

[ShortnFiery]

24. I'm sorry that not everybody loves "Saint Krugman" but he proved his low character

with his unfounded attacks upon Obama. That's my opinion and I'm (+ many others) entitled to it.

[ColonelTom]

32. Oh, good lord. Krugman's a person with opinions, not the Antichrist.

From what I recall, Krugman argued that Hillary's proposals were more progressive than Obama's. Sometimes he made sense (as on health insurance). At other times he appeared to have an axe to grind, e.g., criticizing Obama's tax plan as possibly less progressive because he didn't believe that it was paid for - Krugman argued, not very persuasively, that Obama's commitment to his tax cuts wasn't as strong as Hillary's to hers because it wasn't clear Obama could afford them in his budget.

As is often the case with Krugman - and as one might expect given his background - he's at his best on the purely economic aspects of issues. He's not the most nuanced political analyst when it comes to electoral politics. Given that, he's certainly a thoughtful, intelligent, well-educated guy, and he shouldn't be dismissed out of hand because his preference was apparent during the primaries.

[ShortnFiery]

37. I consider Krugman morally compromised. I'm not alone and entitled to my opinion.

Sorry, I'm not into idol worship of all things Krugman. :eyes:

[Larkspur]

38. Then Obama is compromised too

His campaign is stocked with ex-Clintonites, including those like Robert Rubin, who helped the Republicans deregulate Wall Street and the banks. Guess they were looking for a meal ticket too and found "Saint" Obama to be that ticket.

[depakid]

13. "where are the adults?"

Not among the vapid (and highly vocal) ideologues who would have the world financial system meltdown.

Essentially, they'd cut of their own noses to spite their collective faces.

[tomp]

15. wow, this bill right now or meltdown.

nuance much?

[depakid]

18. I happen to agree with Krugman

and also with Obama= there is plenty of time to revisit the issue, make revisions and draft new regulations down the line.

What DOESN'T MAKE SENSE is to play Russian roulette with the world financial system in a crisis- cause it ain't just the stock market that will crash.

And if you know the slightest nuanced bit about what going on- you would realize that.

[tomp]

35. so you agree with somebody and i agree with somebody else.

you might also point out that you agree with bush, cheney, and pelosi, none of which recommends your point at all.

you're playing the arm twister by making it entirely black and white.

i agree with kucinich, and i value his opinion above your list put together.

[Larkspur]

6. "one has the suspicion that a McCain administration would have us longing for Bush-era competence"

Oy!

Another excellent column by Paul Krugman.

[tomp]

16. i don't know enough about high finance.

and apparently neither do the high financiers. so i have to trust someone. i'm going with kucinich. no deal.