I am a big fan of Paul Krugman.
However, to show you how open-minded I am, I point you to Obama’s Nobel Headache, appearing in the 6 April 2009 issue of Newsweek.
[Aside: As I was writing this post, my wife asked me if I noticed what ‘stressed’ spelled backward is. She said, ‘That explains why candy companies are doing so well these days.’ ]
A childhood friend became a features writer for the Wall Street Journal in the 1970’s; his articles appeared in one of the three columns on the front page.
One of his articles was on the radical activist groups of the time, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). He then took time off from the WSJ to write a book on SDS.
One of the insights I took from the book was that SDS’s uncompromising position on the (moderately) Far Left gave liberals space to take a stance in between SDS and the Center, and not appear radical. Whether intended or not, I think that Krugman plays that role.
As a person who spent a career frequently thinking of myself as a lonely voice in the wilderness crying out for some sanity in changing crazy company policy, I can appreciate Krugman’s behavior and perhaps his feelings.
However, looking back at that career from retirement, I think of ways that I might have behaved differently to have been more effective.
I don’t know if any of those different strategies would have worked. Sometimes I just wished I would have had the personality to have tried them.
I have the same wistful feelings about Krugman’s behavior.