Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Friday, June 29, 2012

Paul Krugman Asks Economists To Sign 'Manifesto For Economic Sense'

Paul Krugman is upset by the way governments have handled the economic crisis and he wants other economists to be upset too and then sign something just to prove how upset they are.

Krugman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist, is asking anyone who agrees with his views to sign "A Manifesto for Economic Sense," according to his blog. He has partnered with British economist Richard Layard in developing the declaration for what they call an "evidence-based analysis of problems."

Their manifesto discusses what Krugman believes are the errors of recent fiscal policies and offers points of clarification regarding the economic crisis, including its causes, nature and appropriate responses. "The whole world suffers when men and women are silent about what they know is wrong," Krugman and Layard write in the manifesto.

Krugman has long been a critic of other economists and policymakers for not applying history's lessons to the current economic crisis. His most recent criticisms have focused on those giving a nod to the austerity measures enacted by European leaders. Similar policies pushed a recovering economy back into recession during the 1930s, Krugman has written on numerous occasions.

"It is tragic that in recent years the old ideas have again taken root. But we can no longer accept a situation where mistaken fears of higher interest rates weigh more highly with policy-makers than the horrors of mass unemployment," Krugman writes in the manifesto.

Many university affiliates and others have already joined forces with Krugman by signing the online declaration.

There's yet to be a public response from government leaders on the manifesto, but Krugman's opinions have caused some controversy in the past. Just earlier this month, the President of Estonia took to the tweets to slam the economist calling him "smug, overbearing & patronizing" after Krugman wrote an entry on his NYT blog undercutting Estonia's recent economic successes.

Original Article
Source: huffington post
Author:  Khadeeja Safdar 

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