Two things you can be sure of with liberals:

A puerile understanding of economic principles.

A thorough knowledge of basic Marxist principles, except for the unintended consequences and actual results. 

 Ignorance is bliss. It's easier to repeat a mindless slogan than to do some actual research.

Krugman "You start to get a society in which the elite is just not living in the same material universe as the rest of the population" and I would say that is most of what his world is.

Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.

And this guy actually claims to be an economist?

Ok Paul,  then start doling out some of that cheddar you are making, because I'm sure you're salary is fairly compared to other know nothing idiots in this country, and I'm fairly certain you make more than me, so my mortgage payment is due by the 15th of every month.  Please don't be late making it, ok?

"...looking back at what happened under FDR..."

In 1941 unemployment was about as high as it was in 1933. Even PBS had to admit that it was WWII that got us out of the depression, not FDR.

Kurgman and his ilk refuse to face facts.  They won't accept obvious failures like the welfare state, the Soviet Union etc...  Their excuse for why socialism hasn't worked is that it hasn't been done correctly yet - and of course THEY know how to do it...

God, save us from these people!

Paul,

There's an obvious hypocrisy in Krugman's position that no one has pointed out yet: in the '30s, the gap between rich and poor shrank so much because the rich GOT POOR! That's what happens when you lose your job and all of your money in the stock market -- you GET POOR!

In reality, this is what the liberals want -- everybody but THEM to be poor! Then they'll be happy. ns

Funny how the same people who constantly bemoan the gap between rich and poor seem to have no problem sanctioning the influx of uneducated immigrants who don't possess a pot to p*ss in.
PS: I do agree with his point about how the people who have the most influence are not interested in having good public
services, because they don't use them.

Not a homophobe but GQ is for gays.  Krugman is nuts.  They deserve each other.

This is simply idiotic.

Income equality?  As a serious issue in this day and age?

So a brick layer should be equally compensated for something so un-skilled, as say, a neurologist?

What is it with these liberals that they want to give away everyone else's hard work?  I really, truly, seriously cannot fathom this POV. 

I like Tyler Cowen's reference to a "zero-sum worldview" though.  I confess, I looked him up on Wiki....a "libertarian economist".  Go figure.

For a slam dunk of FDR's economic policies, read the book, "FDR's Folly."  Here is what some people that read Jim Powell's book thought of it:

“Admirers of FDR credit his New Deal with restoring the American economy after the disastrous contraction of 1929—33. Truth to tell–as Powell demonstrates without a shadow of a doubt–the New Deal hampered recovery from the contraction, prolonged and added to unemployment, and set the stage for ever more intrusive and costly government. Powell’s analysis is thoroughly documented, relying on an impressive variety of popular and academic literature both contemporary and historical.”
–Milton Friedman, Nobel Laureate, Hoover Institution

“There is a critical and often forgotten difference between disaster and tragedy. Disasters happen to us all, no matter what we do. Tragedies are brought upon ourselves by hubris. The Depression of the 1930s would have been a brief disaster if it hadn’t been for the national tragedy of the New Deal. Jim Powell has proven this.”
–P.J. O’Rourke, author of Parliament of Whores and Eat the Rich

“The material laid out in this book desperately needs to be available to a much wider audience than the ranks of professional economists and economic historians, if policy confusion similar to the New Deal is to be avoided in the future.”
–James M. Buchanan, Nobel Laureate, George Mason University

“I found Jim Powell’s book fascinating. I think he has written an important story, one that definitely needs telling.”
–Thomas Fleming, author of The New Dealers’ War

“Jim Powell is one tough-minded historian, willing to let the chips fall where they may. That’s a rare quality these days, hence more valuable than ever. He lets the history do the talking.”
–David Landes, Professor of History Emeritus, Harvard University

“Jim Powell draws together voluminous economic research on the effects of all of Roosevelt’s major policies. Along the way, Powell gives fascinating thumbnail sketches of the major players. The result is a devastating indictment, compellingly told. Those who think that government intervention helped get the U.S. economy out of the depression should read this book.”
–David R. Henderson, editor of The Fortune Encyclopedia of Economics and author of The Joy of Freedom

The tragedy is that most Americans have no idea the devastation that FDR's policies created at that time and that we are still living with.  Unbelieveably, FDR still ranks in the top ten of our greatest presidents. 

"Life is not a race against fellow human beings, and we should discourage people from treating it as such," Cowen wrote. "So why should economists promote this same zero-sum worldview?"

Simply put, he's lying!!!

At its most basic, life is an attempt to lure the most attractive mate to produce the most attractive offspring.

Even the most liberated women are obsessed with marrying up, not down.

This guy is a fool if he wants his kids to have the same opportunities as those of his neighbors.  No, he wants them to have more (and better) opportunities.

If his kids are so much as taking private piano lessons, he's lying about life not being a zero sum game.