Incestuous Amplification, Economics Edition by Paul Krugman

[pampango]

2. I hadn't heard the term before, but the concept is familiar.

My first thought was of FOX news. Obama is bad, Obamacare is socialism... "Everyone" in the FOX world is "a closed group of people (who) repeat the same things to each other – and when accepting the group’s preconceptions itself becomes a necessary ticket to being in the in-group."

It certainly applied in the runup to the Iraq War with only those believing in Iraq's WMD were part of the 'in-group' resulting in the feeling within that group that 'everyone' believed it. The 'Germans can't attack through the Ardennes' group of military strategists made sure that no one who disagreed with that premise was invited to the meetings so that the belief was deemed to be "common wisdom".

Now it's the "Beltway Deficit Feedback Loop" as described by Krugman. I believe that this "incestuous amplification" is largely a republican/tea party/FOX news phenomenon, but I suppose liberals could be guilty of it at times though I can't think of an example.

Thanks Mr. Krugman for adding a new term to my vocabulary.