Krugman Schools 'Morning Joe' on Austerity: 'How Many Times' Do I Have to Be Right?

[hughee99]

15. Did this jump out at anyone else?

"Give me something that looks more like a normal employment situation and I'll become a deficit hawk, but not now."

In 2006, with unemployment below 6 (http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000), he was suggesting that if the government were able to free up money (from shutting down the wars, for example) they should spend it rather than using it to keep the deficit down.

"The answer, I now think, is to spend the money - while taking great care to ensure that it is spent well, not squandered - and let the deficit be. By spending money well, Democrats can both improve Americans' lives and, more broadly, offer a demonstration of the benefits of good government. Deficit reduction, on the other hand, might just end up playing into the hands of the next irresponsible president. "

http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2006/12/paul_krugman_de.html