This is all I want for my birthday. Anyone who knows me can attest I haven’t asked for anything for my birthday in years.
Paul Krugman is a Nobel prize winning economist and Professor of Economics and International affairs at Princeton when he’s not writing for the NY Times. He received a BS from Yale and a Ph.D. from MIT by the time he was 24. I’ve been a fan since January of 2007 when he published an this article, The Dark Age of Macroeconomics. He was also one of the first people to call out the sinister Phil Gramm as one of the architects of the recession long before it was known he authored the legislation allowing the retention bonuses at AIG.
We need a Wall Street outsider at the helm of this disaster. Not another former Wall St. Chairman and bankers best friend. Keeping bankers happy will only do so much to alleviate the crisis we’re in. Bring in an outsider. Since before Obama appointed Geithner (which was the moment I first questioned Obama’s commitment to “change”), Krugman was a known contender for the job. Draft him if necessary but do what should have been done in the first place. Time and money are burning.
Todd,
I totally concur with your birthday wish. There is no question that Dr. Paul Krugman would bring instant credibility to the Obama Administration. Who in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America or Australia would question a Nobel Prize winning economist as our Treasury Secretary? Who would question the man who wrote “The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008” except maybe those people who profit from people’s misery (hint: Phil Gramm among others). How could Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke oppose Paul Krugman as Treasury Secretary when Ben Bernanke as Chairman of the Princeton University Economics Department hired Krugman at Princeton?
If you ever visit Princeton, NJ (home of Princeton University professor Paul Krugman), you will notice that townspeople are very proud of their alma mater, Michelle Obama, as well as their MIT transplant Dr. Paul Krugman. Despite the high per capita income of Princetonians, townspeople were overwhelming supportive of Barack Obama over John McCain.
Having said all this the first action I would want Paul Krugman to take is to advocate for bankruptcy judges to have the ability to cram down first mortgages. This coupled with a government mandated plan that reduces mortgage principle owed for those home owners that are under water (i.e. owe more than their house is worth) and guaranteeing the mortgage issuer a 80% share of home value appreciation upon sale of the home (after the cram down to reduce the principle) would insure that both the home owner and the mortgage lender will suffer the least.
It is about time that America be governed by rational thought and not by the raw power and avarice of the wealthy.
Norm