Snarling, Dyspeptic Economic Commentary

by BWK ~ February 14, 2008

Snarling, Dyspeptic Economic Commentary

Y’know… There is this clubby bunch of insider economic & market talking heads….”The usual suspects” if you will. Smug and self-satisfied, they are always reliable for standard, plain vanilla advice (if not cultural Marxist drivel) on whatever occurs in this big world.

And these Olympian minds certainly do manage to pound every round story into a square hole.

I have grown to expect this kind of reflexive non-analysis from the NY Times. Trouble parking? Blame Republicans. NY Times editorials are predictable, pro forma and entirely formulaic. Never fails.

Still I wonder: do the people who write the editorials read the news section of the newspaper? Or do they just read a headline or two, and then write the editorial so as not to pollute the story line with facts and logic.

And the letters to the editor of the Times? They are just pathological. The standard letter in the Times is an example of cognitive dissonance emanating from a self-styled, wannabe political “progressive.” I can imagine people sitting at their word processors, tongue wrapped tightly around the upper lip, trying to mirror the latest editorial from the Old Gray Lady. “Hmmm. How can I restate to the editors what they already believe?” Indeed. What subtle, mau-mau-ing nuance can the letter-writer add so as to see her name in print on the next-to-last page? And those of a certain bent are always sure to note their faculty appointment at some fine New England house of learning.

The most reliable purveyor of quasi-economic trash-talk, dressed up in academic dignity, is the execrable Paul Krugman. If Krugman was not a professor of economics at Princeton, he’d probably be a hockey player. No, make that a dirty hockey player. Krugman would be the kind of puck artist that the coach keeps on the bench until the critical moment in the game. Then, in goes “Hit-Man Paul” to take that super-cheap shot and knock the best player on the other team into the boards. Hook the guy. High-stick him. Whatever. Krugman would get ejected from the game. But the other player has a dislocated shoulder, or is off to the hospital for 31 stitches around his jaw. Once again, Krugman earns his paycheck.

Yes indeed. Krugman is the poster-child for snarling, dyspeptic modern economic commentary at its best. Or at its worst?

BWK