RE: Re: RE: re: say it ain't so, Paul
> I don't think that PK has moved to the left. He seems to have a very narrow range of acceptable politics/economics. Anyone to the left or to the right is fair game. He can write well and is clever, so when he lashes out at the right, he can be pleasant to behold, but he often relies on rhetoric rather than political economy when making his case.< it's not that PK has moved to the left as much as that the "center" has moved to the right (the selecton of Pres. Dubya, etc.) Of course, this indicates that the left/right metaphor doesn't hold up very well. JDevine
Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: Re: say it ain't so, Paul
>From: "Devine, James" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > Oh, that's OK then. I'll stop my carping and let PK continue > > his tireless task of speaking truth to power. > > > > Carl > >I know you're being ironic, but I'll reply in a non-ironic way: PK doesn't >speak truth to power except within the usual political context of "what's >good for capital" Seems to be bit of cognitive dissonance here. Reading Krugman's NY Times column today, I am given to understand that this whole flap over his Enron connections is really a right-wing attempt to defame Krugman because he is such a fire-breathing lefty, e.g.: "... reading those attacks [on me concerning Enron], you would think that I was a major-league white-collar criminal. It's tempting to take this vendetta as a personal compliment: Some people are so worried about the effect of my writing that they will try anything to get me off this page. But actually it was part of a broader effort by conservatives to sling Enron muck toward their left, hoping that some of it would stick." [http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/25/opinion/25KRUG.html] So, far from being a self-serving opportunist, Krugman is actually the left's last best hope. Carl _ Join the worlds largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com
RE: Re: RE: Re: Re: say it ain't so, Paul
> Oh, that's OK then. I'll stop my carping and let PK continue > his tireless task of speaking truth to power. > > Carl I know you're being ironic, but I'll reply in a non-ironic way: PK doesn't speak truth to power except within the usual political context of "what's good for capital" (the real world of power that's idealized by economists like PK as a "market system" perceived as good -- with some technocratic fiddling -- for "the public interest" as long as "special interests" like labor unions don't have excessive influence). What's really venial among academic economists is the "winner-take-all" system in which "super-star" economists (who are selected by similarly-minded neoclassical ideologues) run the "top" graduate programs, get abundant research grants, attain high-paying positions, publish in "prestigious" journals, etc., which allow them to in turn pull in cash from corporations as consultants, to publish in establishmentarian outlets like the NY TIMES, and to choose the next group of super-stars, while deciding which departments are "top," who gets grants, who gets promoted, which journals are "prestigious" and who gets published in them, etc. In this context, PK is what C. Wright Mills termed a "new entrepreneur" (in his WHITE COLLAR), a person who prospers by jumping back and forth between academic, business, and government bureaucracies (like Henry the K). Jim Devine
Re: RE: Re: Re: say it ain't so, Paul
>From: "Devine, James" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Alan asks:>Did PK _return_ the $50K or did he just pocket it and then >criticize?< > >Jim Devine: I doubt it, since he gets a lot of payments from corporations >(as indicated by the letter below, in today's Los Angeles TIMES) and he >seems to see them as payments for specific services rendered: > >[to the editors of the L.A. TIMES, 1/24/02:]... > >Enron paid members of its advisory board $50,000 for attendance and >presentations at two meetings (one of mine was canceled at the last >minute), >each spanning two business days. This payment, as a daily rate [!], was if >anything somewhat less [!!] than I was regularly receiving [!!!] for >presentations to >other companies: At the time, as an expert on international financial >crises, I was in high demand as a speaker. Oh, that's OK then. I'll stop my carping and let PK continue his tireless task of speaking truth to power. Carl _ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com
