# An Open Letter to Paul Krugman **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 12, 2011, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-paul-krugman/596105 "2011-09-12T22:52:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![moejoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@moejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejoe)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-paul-krugman/596105/161 "2011-09-14T02:04:33Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > This is ridiculous. Telling others to show some decorum is not, in itself, indecorous. > > Sure, but no one else has to listen to them, so I don’t see why people get worked up about them. Little bit of a hijack here. WBC spent hours every single week at my place of employment for an entire year, and also picketed our local high school, so I have some first hand experience with getting worked up about them. It takes a long time to tune them out, months of frustration, anger, shock at how awful they can be. After a while it is possible to go about your day without giving any energy to them, but it’s a learned skill. When it starts, and until you build up the hard candy shell, you have no choice but to listen to them and it’s incredibly hard not to let it piss you off. So yeah, it’s easy to say no one has to listen to them, but unless you’ve actually had those whackjobs screaming in your face you really shouldn’t assume that “just not listening” is an easy thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-paul-krugman/596105/162 "2011-09-14T02:21:20Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > This past weekend was a better time to honor the dead than to fight the culture war. Okay, but who gets to decide how we honor them? Do we all pat ourselves on the back and say what a great country we are, or do we use it as a call to action for how much better we can be? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-paul-krugman/596105/163 "2011-09-14T02:21:22Z")
Scylla, thanks for pissing on the graves of the people who jumped from the towers, and on the grave of a genuine hero like Rick Rescorla. I’m sure some flowers needed watering. Can’t imagine why anyone would exploit them in such a way as you have, just to score some cheap emotional (but nowhere near logical) points in an online debate that few will ever read, but there you are. I’d rebut your argument if I could find one, but all that I could see in your post was an appeal to emotion, and an attempt to infer that the tragic events of that day somehow make the case by themselves that Krugman shouldn’t have said what he did. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-paul-krugman/596105/164 "2011-09-14T02:23:10Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > Could you restate that in Tolkien? No way you get your hands on that ring. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-paul-krugman/596105/165 "2011-09-14T02:29:45Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > Miller: > > I’m not really buying into your attempts at moral equivalence between Krugman and I. It makes so little sense to me I wonder if you are being serious. No offense, but I don’t even want to bother with it. I see big differences and I think they’re obvious. I’m not saying what the two of you are doing is morally equivalent. That would imply that you’re both doing two different things, that are both “wrong” to the same degree. I’m saying that the two of you are doing precisely the same thing. You’re making exactly the same arguments, and deriving exactly the same conclusions. Literally, the only difference is the political axis you’re attacking from. And yes, I’m being entirely serious. I’m sorry that you “don’t want to bother” with responding to what appears to be the only person who’s not posting in this thread for the express purpose of calling you names. If you’re just here for the fighting, that’s fine. It’s the Pit, it’s what it’s here for. It does cast that very pretty passage you wrote about the values of non-partisanship in a slightly different light, though. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-paul-krugman/596105/166 "2011-09-14T02:39:16Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > No way you get your hands on that ring. No, that’s Donaldson. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-paul-krugman/596105/167 "2011-09-14T02:39:51Z")
Miller: Ok, no offense but I hope you understand I kind doubted your seriousness. Krugman accuses Bush/repulicans of hijacking 9/11 for their own objectives. I’m accusing Krugman of hijacking 9/11 commemoratiosns for his own objectives. Basically we’re doing the same thing, right? Do I have it correct? This is what you are saying? ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-paul-krugman/596105/168 "2011-09-14T02:41:27Z")
How exactly did Krugman “hijack” the 9/11 commemoration? By writing a blog post? ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-paul-krugman/596105/169 "2011-09-14T02:48:06Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > How exactly did Krugman “hijack” the 9/11 commemoration? By writing a blog post? Beats the shit out of me, but I think miller thinks thats what I’m saying, which is why I’m asking for clarification. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-paul-krugman/596105/170 "2011-09-14T02:50:35Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > Beats the shit out of me, but I think miller thinks thats what I’m saying, which is why I’m asking for clarification. Well…your OP did compare Krugman’s blog post to the antics of the Phelps clan. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-paul-krugman/596105/171 "2011-09-14T02:54:07Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > Well…your OP did compare Krugman’s blog post to the antics of the Phelps clan. Krugman specifically says that 9/11 was basically destroyed, poisoned turned to a thing of shame . I think Krugman and WBC demean and destroy themselves only. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-paul-krugman/596105/172 "2011-09-14T02:59:21Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > For example, you say that Bush et al “used the memory of 9/11 to sell the invasion of Iraq, connecting it explicitly with the war on terror.” There is no recognition here of the fact that there is every indication that Bush did and does believe that he did exactly the right thing, that a substantial portion of the populace believes that, too. That it wasn’t sold as some cynical plan, that it was sold as the right thing to do. Whether he believed sincerily or not in Saddam’s complacency still makes his actions disgusting in light of what we know now, and how the war was conducted. Bush believing his own lies wasn’t the issue, its how he went about using 9/11 to support it > [@Scylla](#): > > When I think of 9/11, I think of the moment that I realized all the thuds you heard in the film from the lobby were people who had jumped. I see the firefighters going up the stairs, never to come back down. You know what? I’m pretty sure Krugman sees the same, only he also sees how disgusting it was for Republicans to use that as a club to beat the opposition over the head with. Its ironic, you and he both want the exploitation of 9/11 to stop, only he is saying that it should stop by naming those most responsible but you are saying it should stop but attack people who rightly place the blame on those who deserve it most. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-paul-krugman/596105/173 "2011-09-14T03:00:31Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > Krugman specifically says that 9/11 was basically destroyed, poisoned turned to a thing of shame . Okay…so? It’s still just a blog post. He didn’t run down to the memorial and take a dump on it. He expressed an opinion about how all the cheap, cynical things done in the aftermath of 9/11 have perhaps left us with a bitter taste in our mouths on the anniversary. I certainly feel that way. We’re definitely not going to look at 9/11 the way we look at Pearl Harbor. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-paul-krugman/596105/174 "2011-09-14T03:08:52Z")
Fuck, hit enter on accident > [@Scylla](#): > > What Krugman thinks about is how much he hates George Bush and Giuliani and Republicans. “For exploiting 9/11”, you forgot to add. He hates those Republicans for exploiting 9/11, just as you’re exploiting the memory of it to drown out dissent to your position. Think about how you are invoking the firefighters and Rick Rescorla and the people on Flight 93. When you mention them, think about the context. It is to get people to stop disagreeing with you Paul Krugman brings up Republicans only because they have exploited it. Paul Krugman didn’t do anything. He’s not a part of it. He’s like an objective observer pointing out to the audience that those people are full of shit. He wants to protect the memory of 9/11, and the best way to do that isn’t to fall in lockstep with what Bush and the Republicans created, its to get them to stop. > [@Scylla](#): > > **I think it’s a shitty thing to suggest that something like 9/11 could be overshadowed by something as shallow and stupid as partisan politics.** I don’t see putting the two in the same category. 9/11 was much bigger than that, and ultimately Krugman’s inability to so see it is a failure of his own humanity. And your’s, too. Were you born yesterday? Have you seen what 9/11 allowed this country to do? We’ve invaded an innocent country, killed tens of thousands of innocent civilians, made surveillence of Americans normal, tortured people, defended that torture, put up all sorts of obstacles in the way of people trying to get justice, turned an entire religion into a boogeyman, bankrupted the country, called any and all dissent traitorous, and still you fail to see how partisan politics have overshadowed 9/11? 9/11 was tiny compared to the damage this country’s conservatives did to America. 9/11 was not bigger than that. 9/11 could not defend itself against the hate coming from the American right wing who used it to gain more stupid followers than they ever could ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-paul-krugman/596105/175 "2011-09-14T03:18:49Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > Okay…so? It’s still just a blog post. He didn’t run down to the memorial and take a dump on it. He expressed an opinion about how all the cheap, cynical things done in the aftermath of 9/11 have perhaps left us with a bitter taste in our mouths on the anniversary. I certainly feel that way. > > We’re definitely not going to look at 9/11 the way we look at Pearl Harbor. I saw a lot more cheap and cynical things from the left than I did from the right, who, it appeared to me, were acting sincerely and in our best interests. I think the difference though is that I recognize that a lot of that is colored by selective perception and my prior beliefs. Leaning Republican I tend to interpret the actions of Republicans in the most favorable light and e actions of opposing liberals in the most unfavorable light. Because of this, I tend to be suspicious of my perceptions. I think most people do this. Half of my complaint against Krugman is that as somebody who is supposed to be a pretty smart guy, he doesn’t seem to be recognizing this a all. He is unquestioning of his perceptionsand the absolute validity of his viewpoint. This makes him a fanatic. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-paul-krugman/596105/176 "2011-09-14T03:21:45Z")
So if we don’t buy the sanitized view of why we got involved in Iraq and why we passed the Patriot Act, then we’re fanatics? I guess that makes me a fanatic. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-paul-krugman/596105/177 "2011-09-14T03:57:12Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > Miller: > > Ok, no offense but I hope you understand I kind doubted your seriousness. I really don’t understand that, to be honest. I’m not sure what part of my posts you could have interpreted as attempting to be funny. Not a big deal to me, it just seemed a really odd reaction to what I was saying. > [@](#): > > Krugman accuses Bush/repulicans of hijacking 9/11 for their own objectives. > > I’m accusing Krugman of hijacking 9/11 commemoratiosns for his own objectives. > > Basically we’re doing the same thing, right? > Do I have it correct? This is what you are saying? Yes, that sounds about right, although I think your criticisms have widen considerably since your OP, enough to include the left in general in your condemnations, and not just Krugman. > [@](#): > > Half of my complaint against Krugman is that as somebody who is supposed to be a pretty smart guy, he doesn’t seem to be recognizing this a all. He is unquestioning of his perceptions and the absolute validity of his viewpoint. You do realize that, in this thread, you’ve stated that anyone who isn’t automatically disgusted by Krugman’s article is incapable of functioning in civilized society, right? That strikes me as a pretty absolutist position to me, and not one I’d expect from a person who had taken the time to re-examine his preconceptions and consider the issue from the opposite point of view. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-paul-krugman/596105/178 "2011-09-14T04:02:47Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > I’ll give my best faith effort to explain myself. If you care to read this, try to understand it , and get what I’m saying instead of just thinking of some clever snarky way to respond. Please? > > This is **exactly** what bothers me so much, that you and Krugman and so many others actually believe this kind of thing. To me, it’s just incredibly immature and sloppy and selfish thinking. I’m always ashamed of myself and have bad moments thinking like this because it is so indulgent and sloppy. Believe what, exactly? That the Bush administration abused 9/11 with Saddam Hussein in order to convince Americans to go into Iraq? That politicians used 9/11 to further their own goals? Maybe I’m just confused and you mean something else. I _hope_ you mean something else, anyways, because if you don’t, you’re simply misinformed. But let’s get back to that. > [@](#): > > **Bricker** would often say that it’s possible for reasonably people to disagree. In order to believe that you have to have empathy, the ability to put yourself into someone else’s shoes, to look at things from their perspective. If you can do that, you can understand them and you can communicate meaningfully with them. > > If you can’t, then I suggest that you are something less than a human being, something less than a full participant in society. What you are instead is a cardboard cutout, a prejudiced partisan hack. I agree… _to an extent_. Sometimes the fact of the matter is that one side is poorly informed and/or simply wrong. Sometimes it’s just not worthwhile to put yourself in the other guy’s shoes because you know the facts, he’s not presenting any new facts, and there’s really very little to be added to his argumentation because he simply is, on a factual level, wrong. I mean, would you say that we should do that with Flat-eathers? That it’s reasonable to call someone who ignores the evidence for creationism a prejudiced partisan hack? No. And this is a very similar situation. Sometimes there simply aren’t two sides to an issue. > [@](#): > > For example, you say that Bush et al “used the memory of 9/11 to sell the invasion of Iraq, connecting it explicitly with the war on terror.” There is no recognition here of the fact that there is every indication that Bush did and does believe that he did exactly the right thing, that a substantial portion of the populace believes that, too. That it wasn’t sold as some cynical plan, that it was sold as the right thing to do. So… you think that Bush earnestly believed that invading Iraq was the best thing to do; that he didn’t have ulterior motives; that the political circus following 9/11 (including the PATRIOT Act) was all for the benefit of the people? Let’s throw some facts into the gears, shall we: [ul] [li]Directly after 9/11, Bush did his very best to find links between Saddam and Al Qaeda (despite his advisors on the subject constantly telling him there were none) [source: [The price of Loyalty](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Price_of_Loyalty)][/li][li][The downing street Memo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downing_Street_memo) indicates strongly that the facts regarding Iraq before the war were fixed around the idea of Iraq having weapons of mass destruction, not the other way around.[/li][li]Wolfowitz himself had made very clear in 1997 that invading Iraq to take down Saddam and install a new government would be a messy, costly, and nearly unwinnable affair. [/li][li]NPAC ring any bells?[/li][/ul] Just a few of the indicators that the invasion of Iraq was _not_ on the level. And then you have the ulterior motives: things like Cheney’s connection to Halliburton, for example. Then again, the fact that the administration got so much about the war wrong (the cost, the length, the number of troops needed, the reaction of the Iraqi people, the logistics of the networking in Baghdad–things like the electrical and plumbing systems) despite warning from advisors also hints strongly at the idea that they weren’t evil, just _massively_ incompetent, but I like the “Evil” idea much, much better. > [@](#): > > No. You wish to play some partisan game. In reality, Republicans and Democrats should be Americans first. You should recognize that we have a lot more in common than we do in opposition. It is because we have so much in common that the differences seem so large, that we are essentially in it together. Exposing the truth is not a partisan game simply because the truth goes against what one party or faction likes. The claim that Bush ruined the economy and sunk us into two unwinnable wars, one by conflating Iraq with 9/11 despite absolutely no connection existing, is not some “partisan game”. It’s the simple truth, whether you want to admit it or not. I have nothing against Republicans as long as they are willing to view reality as it is. But I do feel that when one of thing things that we don’t have in common is a clear view of reality, then that’s _kind of a deal-breaker_. > [@](#): > > What happened on 9/11 didn’t happen to Republicans, or Democrats, it happened to the whole country. Of course, this I agree on 100%. But that’s completely besides the point! The point is that 9/11 was used as a political tool. And this is extremely self-evident just by watching the actions of the republican party after 9/11. I highly recommend you read the book “The Truth (With Jokes)” by Al Franken. It’s pretty informative of this whole issue. > [@](#): > > What Krugman thinks about is how much he hates George Bush and Giuliani and Republicans. …For being lying, cheating bastards who fucked this country. This is not an unreasonable position to hold. > [@](#): > > I think it’s a shitty thing to suggest that something like 9/11 could be overshadowed by something as shallow and stupid as partisan politics. I don’t see putting the two in the same category. 9/11 was much bigger than that, and ultimately Krugman’s inability to so see it is a failure of his own humanity. And your’s, too. …It’s shitty to suggest that a terrorist attack that killed 3,000 people could be overshadowed by a corrupt administration who used this terrorist attack to start a war that killed (according to [Iraqbodycount.org](http://Iraqbodycount.org)) 102,417 – 111,938 people, seriously influence policy in an overwhelmingly negative way, and throw money at their corporate cronies? No. No, it is _not_ shitty to suggest that a terrorist action against our nation could be overshadowed by an act of war that killed around 30 times more people. It is _not_ shitty to suggest that it could be overshadowed by a decrease in our civil liberties. It is _not_ shitty to suggest that a bombing that killed 3,000 is overshadowed by a corrupt administration that used that bombing to justify bullshit decision after bullshit decision after bullshit decision. No. You are _wrong_. 9/11 was _not_ bigger than that, it was _not_ above that, and that you would claim it is speaks words about just how egocentrical and USA-centric your worldview is, and > [@](#): > > If you don’t automatically see it, you are an asshole. Your parents didn’t bring you up right, and you’re not really fit or equipped to interact with society. You need remedial help. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-paul-krugman/596105/179 "2011-09-14T04:03:33Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > Half of my complaint against Krugman is that as somebody who is supposed to be a pretty smart guy, he doesn’t seem to be recognizing this a all. He is unquestioning of his perceptionsand the absolute validity of his viewpoint. > > This makes him a fanatic. Maybe it makes him someone who feels that he’s questioned his perceptions enough in the past ten years, and he’s satisfied by now that his viewpoint _IS_ valid. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2011, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-paul-krugman/596105/180 "2011-09-14T09:26:22Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > I think about George Bush in a classroom full of children, and what he has been told. I watched the Michael Moore film and saw the tape, and what I saw was a man who desperately did not want to frighten the children, and who wondered if by being there he was endangering them. Foolish or wise, like it or don’t like it, it was a fundamentally decent instinct he had there. I don’t understand why that is worthy of ridicule. Comedy gold - after all these years, Scylla’s still trying to justify the ultimate deer-in-headlights moment. I know this is old ground, but let’s do small sentences. 1. All he had to do was say, “Kids, something’s come up. I’ve got to go do my job. This happens sometimes when you’re Preznit,” and walk out of the room. Yeah, that would have terrified the kids. Would have had them shaking in their shoes. Gimme a freakin’ break. 1. He was President. America was under attack. He might have needed to make an important decision in real time. But he couldn’t do it from inside the classroom. Whether or not he scared a bunch of kids to the point of crapping their pants was neither here nor there. We were under attack, he was C-in-C, he needed to be on the job. 2. “who wondered if by being there he was endangering them”? He couldn’t exactly find out whether he was or wasn’t, without leaving the room, right? There is really no way of thinking about this where it makes more sense for Bush to stay in the classroom for those eight minutes than to go out in the hall and find out just how we were being attacked, and what we might do about it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-paul-krugman/596105.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-open-letter-to-paul-krugman/596105.md?page=10)