Paul Krugman Called It a LONG Time Ago …

.

I am finding it interesting that Paul Krugman is being paid more attention these days.

As the excerpt below from Media Matters points out, he was essentially dismissed as one more liberal, leftist critic during the Bush Years.

.

Krugman and Newsweek

Here’s what we think is telling about the whole thing: During the Bush years, Krugman, from his same perch on the pages of Times’ opinion pages, waged about as vocal a campaign as humanly possible to warn readers and the country about the what he considered to be the perilous policy decisions the Bush administration was embracing, and what the disastrous results for America would be.

Looking back on the Bush years, Krugman’s track record was rather impeccable. But you’ll note he didn’t appear on the cover of Newsweek back then. And for years Krugman only occasionally appeared on the pundit talk shows. He wasn’t referenced much inside The Village, either. Meaning, the Beltway press pros didn’t seem to care what Krugman wrote about Bush and didn’t think his writing–his opposition–needed to be examined closer.

He was just a liberal critic, so who cared what he wrote about Bush. (That’s my take on how much of the press viewed Krugman.)

.

However … I remember this one thing very very clearly.  Sometime in 2001 or 2002, he wrote a long piece in the NY Times Sunday Magazine (so long that it was published as Part 1 and Part 2 over two successive weekends) wherein he laid out the case very clearly that the structural policy foundations were being set for the creation and sustenance of plutocracy in America.

I kept those two issues of the NY Times Sunday Magazine, for future reference.  They’re in one of the boxes somewhere in my storage unit.

UPDATE:  Thanks to correspondent a.mole, here is a link to the Krugman article “For Richer … ” (though it may only be Part 1 … nevertheless, a quick read will show you that Krugman has been paying attention to the building issues for quite some time).

Hello .. can anyone argue that there is not, today, a de facto plutocracy in charge of the USA’s economy ?  Bailing out bankers whilst attacking the foundations of Medicare and Social Security in the euphemistic guise of “entitlement reform” because fiscal responsibility is necessary ?

Gaack !

.