What Paul Krugman Gets Wrong

Let us make a little list:

• Tyler Cowen points out that when it comes to discussing Milton Friedman's analysis of the Great Depression, Paul Krugman gets things wrong.
• Both Tyler Cowen and Donald Boudreaux point out that Krugman gets Hayek wrong.
• Raghuram Rajan points out that Krugman gets Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff wrong, though I am not sure that Krugman actually engaged in a classic ad hominem. It seems that he was just needlessly insulting and made ludicrous charges against Reinhart and Rogoff, which is par for the course for Krugman when it comes to dealing with people he views as enemies.

That's a lot of things to get wrong in a short period of time. Fortunately, as ever, Krugman proves himself equal to the task.

Note to Self (Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth Edition)

Dear Self:  

If you are ever offered free food because of your physical attractiveness, run the other way.  After all, you don't want to be made into a product, especially given that you won't get any share of the proceeds from the use of the product.

Fondly, 

Pejman

Some Good Economic News, for a Change

We have been so used to bad economic tidings ever since the onset of the financial crisis that it is hard to remember what good news reads/sounds/looks/smells like. But courtesy of Tyler Cowen​, we have some cause for optimism:

THE state of the economy is far from ideal, but some very definite positives are brewing. It’s not just that we are continuing to recover from a deep recession; we are also seeing signs that America’s long-term future may be looking up, too.

The case for optimism is hardly open-and-shut. The economy’s problems include high unemployment, mediocre productivity gains and stagnant or slow-growing earnings for most income classes. Still, let’s consider five indicators that the future is starting to brighten:

Read the whole thing.​ (Via Free Exchange.)