"Rooted in Decades of Intellectual Malfeasance"

"Now, it's true that the relative handful of economists claiming that stimulus can't possibly work, or that slashing government spending is actually expansionary, have a much higher profile than their numbers or their influence within the profession warrants. Why? Partly, the answer is that the news media—especially but not only partisan media like The Wall Street Journal's editorial page — have promoted the views of economists they like for political reasons. Partly, also, it's because politicians listen to economists who tell them what they want to hear. I'm not saying that mainstream economists bear none of the blame; the decades-long retreat from Keynes has undoubtedly allowed old fallacies to make a comeback. But austerity mania has to a large extent spread despite mainstream economics, not because of it."


In The New York Times, Paul Krugman reviews Jeff Madrick's Seven Bad Ideas: How Mainstream Economists Have Damaged America and the World.