It’s not often that I read something by Paul Krugman and think, “Good point, I hope he’s correct.”
After all, I had to correct Krugman’s inaccurate analysis of Estonia, and also point out the errors in what he wrote about the United Kingdom. And I also noted mistakes he made when writing about Canada and France.
And let’s not forget his absurd assertion that it would be good for the U.S. economy if aliens threatened to attack!
It certainly seems as if he specializes in making mistakes.
But he has just written something that sort of makes sense.
In pushing for draconian cuts in Medicaid, food stamps and other programs that aid the needy, Mr. Ryan isn’t just looking for ways to save money. He’s also, quite explicitly, trying to make life harder for the poor — for their own good. In March, explaining his cuts in aid for the unfortunate, he declared, “We don’t want to turn the safety net into a hammock that lulls able-bodied people into lives of dependency and complacency, that drains them of their will and their incentive to make the most of their lives.”
To be more specific, I hope Krugman is right in that Ryan wants “to make life harder for the poor” if the alternative is to have their lives stripped of meaning by government dependency. And I agree that it will be “for their own good” if they’re motivated to join the workforce.
To be sure, Krugman wants readers to reach the opposite conclusion. Even though the War on Poverty seems to have put an end to the progress we were making (see this remarkable chart), Krugman equates spending money with compassion.
And I suppose I should point out that he is completely wrong (using dishonest Washington budget math) when writing about “draconian cuts” since Cong. Ryan is merely proposing to slow down how fast government spending is growing.
P.S. For those who want more information, watch this video to learn about how government anti-poverty programs hurt the poor.
P.P.S. Check out this map to see how various U.S. states subsidize poverty.
P.P.P.S. To get your blood boiling, read this horrifying post about how a left-wing international bureaucracy conspiring with the Obama White House to redefine poverty in ways that make America look bad.
[…] Similarly, Ryan has adopted the full Murray by proposing a plan to remove the social safety net. At the invitation of the Steamboat Institute’s “Freedom Conference” I debated Dan Mitchell, an economist at Cato on Friday August 25, 2012. Our primary topic was Paul Ryan’s budget policies. Dan stressed an August 24 column he wrote entitled “For Once, I Hope Paul Krugman is Right.” […]
[…] his blog, International Liberty, Dan Mitchell wrote that he hopes Paul Krugman… …is right in that [Paul] Ryan wants “to make life harder […]
“And I agree that it will be “for their own good” if they’re motivated to join the workforce”.
But, isn’t that one of the central issues with the US (& UK) right now?
I have no time whatsoever, for those who lie back on State benefits when there is work to be done, and available to be had. But if there isn’t, what does one do? Crawl into a corner and just die?
Irrespective of the size of Govt, one of it’s central obligations, must be to create the conditions in which businesses proper and grow. That growth, brings jobs.
Create the jobs – and move people off benefit into work. It isn’t rocket science.