One of the hottest feuds in economics today is the one between Harvard Professor Niall Ferguson and Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman. The debate represents austerity vs. stimulus, with Krugman, of course, arguing that the U.S. needs to do way more to save the economy.Ferguson notes that his dispute with Krugman isn’t even so much about economics — it’s about history. Ferguson is a history professor. And history says pretty clearly that countries with this level of sovereign debt eventually go bust.Ferguson isn’t convinced we’re totally doomed just yet. And he’s not calling for overly violent cuts that will leave us eating cat food. Instead, he just wants to see credible commitments to get spending under control down the road to assure investors that our debt is good, and to convince businesses that they can hire and invest today without worrying about massive tax hikes down the road.
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Filed under: MoneyBob Postings, Paul Krugman | Tagged: Depression, economics, Economy, Niall Ferguson, Paul Krugman, Recession |
The 2008 Credit Crunch by MoneyBob 
Hi Bill,I just want to let you know that watching you fills me with love.1 tllirion dollars is enough to employ almost 10 million workers for a year. Looking at the more likely number of 100 tllirion, dublicated 30 times through fractional reserve lending and you can employ most of the population of the western world. That is feudalism.Good luck from Sweden!