Can I Be a Economist Groupie? I Love Paul Krugman - Nobel Prize Dude!
Paul Krugman has done more to help ordinary people understand the complexities of our modern financial systems than any current economist. He has been the spokesman for liberal ideas regarding economics and his unabashed dislike of the conservative, supply-side economic theory is legend. I’ve been following his writings for years and it came as a pleasant surprise that he was awarded the Noble Prize for Economics yesterday. I love his column in the NY Times and one of my favorite non-fiction books written in 2002 is entitled “The Great Unraveling” in which he reprises many of his earlier newspaper columns. It’s almost a prophetic work with regard to the fallacy of trickle-down economics, Wall Street ponzi schemes and our current financial crisis.
From a real estateperspective, Krugman was always skeptical about the mortgage backed securities and the incredibly complex “products” being created by Wall Street financial gurus. One of my real estate brethren in Denver, CO had this to say about Krugman’s predictions back in August when he wrote about liquidity problems in the banking system:
I think it’s very important for us, as investors, home owners, workers and citizensto better inform ourselves about our economic system. I spent many years talking with high school students about the problems inherent in trying to get rich too quickly; purchasing everything on credit and being financially illiterate. Mine was a message of financial frugality. I can even admit to a healthy mistrust of the Stock Market. We need smart people such as Paul Krugman to sound the alarm in a clean, rational so as to avoid the “irrational exuberance” that has led us down this difficult path. I hope the next administration, no matter what party, taps Paul Krugman on the shoulder for some advice and wisdom to help us out of our current situation.
