The Great Unraveling: Losing Our Way In The New Century – Paul Krugman

The Great Unraveling: Losing Our Way In The New Century – Paul Krugman, Norton (2003) 426pp. (S) ***** (alternate edit)

While regular readers of the New York Times editorial page may find themselves frequently wondering why someone who unapologetically rallied for the invasion of Iraq, only to see many of his pre-war predictions as to the outcome of so perilous a step in misguided foreign policy fall well to the wayside (sorry, no instant, miraculous “Iraqi miracle” to shine forth its democratic beacon for all her neighbors to follow), someone whose analysis has been so consistently wrong as to rival the judgment of Donald Rumsfeld, why such a publicly self-discredited individual would continue to be offered a column space twice a week in a paper with the largest circulation in the U.S., let alone to be taken seriously at all in any public forum, there has always been an oasis for those wearied of constant dissembling with little thought to consequence and nary a word that would imply admission of mistake; a refuge for the truth-seeker, if you will. Yes, fortunately for us, there are other places to go, other worldviews to consult in those much vaunted pages, than that of the self-proclaimed foreign policy expert, Thomas Friedman. His name would be Paul Krugman, and surprisingly, he is an economist by trade.

In Krugman, we find rather than continuously erroneous analyses, the refreshingly opposite; concise observations that time and again are far ahead of the curve and are more often than not, vindicated by future events. It is quite telling that during the critical months leading up to the now historical, if not equally mysterious, 2000 presidential election, when most of the media was under a Rove-induced hypnosis, gladly giving the pass to the candidate with perhaps the most to hide in a shady past, while excoriating his opponent over otherwise harmless and insignificant slips of the tongue (as opposed to say, “there will be no voluntary army” anyone?), there was Paul Krugman, breaking down the “fuzzy math” of the Bush team’s tax cut proposals, and calling their bluff every step of the way. When an otherwise somnambulant press corps failed America, there was Krugman, one of the few and bold, raising his voice and throwing his red flags. In a time when “newspeak” has become ubiquitous from the press podiums of the White House and the Pentagon, this is an important detail to remember; when Rove, Cheney, and Bush were mixing their special kool-aid and passing it out to a thirsty media, Paul Krugman refused to take a drink. For instance, this was printed on October 11, 2000: “Mr. Bush has made an important political discovery. Really big misstatements, it turns out, can not be effectively challenged, because voters can’t believe that a man who seems so likeable would do that sort of thing.” In one sentence, Krugman has gone to the heart of the neo-con ethos; you can get away with just about anything, so long as the window dressing is right.

When it comes to completely breaking down the Republican m.o. and exposing it for what it really is, there is no second to Krugman.