2 posts tagged “paul krugman”

I'm a big Paul Krugman fan (he appeals to my rational side because, as an economist at heart, he backs everything up with numbers).  Between Krugman, Steven Levitt, David Berri, (as well as Malcolm Gladwell, who has written about all three), and Michael Lewis, economics seems like a fascinating discipline.  But onto the book...

Krugman starts with how the policies of President Franklin Roosevelt, primarily the New Deal, led to a "Great Compression" of wealth, and the rise of the middle class, from the 1950's through the 1970's.  Starting in 1980 (or, perhaps, 1983) the country went through another, prolonged, separation of wealth, called the "Great Divergence,"  where the rich got richer and the poor and middle class got increasingly poorer, and the country entered a new "Gilded Age."  Key stat from Krugman: "Between 1979 and 2005 the real income of the median household rose only 13 percent, but the income of the richest 0.1% of Americans rose 296 percent."  This age of incredible income disparity between rich and poor is tied to what Krugman calls the rise "movement conservatives," who came to power in 1980, with the election of Ronald Reagan.  What is a movement conservative?  Basically this.  Or, to put it more simply, item number 7: "We believe that the future of our country depends upon a strong and vibrant private sector unencumbered by excessive government regulation."  Or, to quote, movement conservative hero Grover Norquist: "I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub."

How did movement conservatives come to power?  The central thesis of Krugman's book is that the shift in political power to movement conservatism is tied to one simple trend: Southern white males started voting republican.  And why did this happen?  Primarily because of the passing and signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, or, as President Johnson put it at the time, "I think we just delivered the South to the Republican Party for a long time to come."

Race, and the politics of race, according to Krugman, trump everything else (including appeals to the issues of gay marriage, abortion, religion, and terrorism) when it comes to the rise of movement conservatism.  So that is the book in a nutshell.  If you are interested in politics, poverty, and/or race, I suggest picking it up.

Paul Krugman is one of my favorite columnists.  This book is his recap of how big business and the ultra-rich have co-opted the Republican Party and, more importantly, this country.  Krugman also keeps a blog that he updates frequently.


Marion Jones is the same age as I am (32) and I remember following her career with the buildup to her five medal performance (now revealed as steroid-aided) in the 2000 Summer Olympics (on a side note, I have to confess that I love the Olympics and have twice visited Olympia).


I watched her emotional press conference where she admitted she had used steroids and, furthermore, that she had lied about her steroid use all of these years.  I remembered seeing this book in the Jackson Barnes and Noble (where I spent many a Saturday, after having a Bento Box Lunch at Haru).  I ordered it online this week, used, for about a dollar.  It's an interesting autobiography, especially given that so much of it now needs to be adjusted.


Here is an excellent article on the aftermath of Jones' revelation.

Finally, I ordered this book after watching Naomi Klein's interview on the Real Time with Bill Maher last night.


She was great, and I remembered hearing about this book when it first came out.  I'll let you know if I like it.  In the meantime, check out the short film Alfonso Cuaron, director of Children of Men (one of my two favorite films from last year, Zodiac being the other), put together for promoting the book:

As a bonus, check out one of the incredible, single-shot sequences from Children of Men: