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Por Paul Krugman

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By PAUL KRUGMAN

I. MISTAKING BEAUTY FOR TRUTH

It’s hard to believe now, but not long ago economists were congratulating themselves over the success of their field. Those successes – or so they believed – were both theoretical and practical, leading to a golden era for the profession. On the theoretical side, they thought that they had resolved their internal disputes. Thus, in a 2008 paper titled “The State of Macro” (that is, macroeconomics, the study of big-picture issues like recessions), Olivier Blanchard of M.I.T., now the chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, declared that “the state of macro is good.” The battles of yesteryear, he said, were over, and there had been a “broad convergence of vision.” And in the real world, economists believed they had things under control: the “central problem of depression-prevention has been solved,” declared Robert Lucas of the University of Chicago in his 2003 presidential address to the American Economic Association. Read more…

The Observer, Sunday 30 August 2009

The great economist’s theories have never been more relevant – and his biographer remains their most compelling advocate, says Paul Krugman.

“At research seminars, people don’t take Keynesian theorising seriously anymore; the audience starts to whisper and giggle to one another.” So declared Robert Lucas of the University of Chicago, writing in 1980. At the time, Lucas was arguably the world’s most influential macroeconomist; the influence of John Maynard Keynes, the British economist whose theory of recessions dominated economic policy for a generation after the Second World War, seemed to be virtually at an end.

But Keynes, it turns out, is having the last giggle. Lucas’s “rational expectations” theory of booms and slumps has shown itself to be completely useless in the current world crisis. Not only does it offer no guide for action, but it more or less asserts that market economies cannot possibly experience the kind of problems they are, in fact, experiencing. Keynesian economics, on the other hand, which was created precisely to make sense of times like these, looks better than ever. Leia o resto do artigo »

NYT, 18/01/2008.

Paul Krugman

A história se repetiu várias vezes nos últimos trinta anos. Investidores globais, decepcionados com os retornos recebidos, buscam por alternativas. Eles acreditam que encontraram o que procuram em um país ou outro. O dinheiro migra rapidamente.

Mas, no final, se torna claro que as oportunidades de investimento não eram o que pareciam, e o dinheiro rapidamente vai embora mais uma vez, com péssimas conseqüências para o ex-favorito financeiro. Essa é a história das múltiplas crises financeiras na América Latina e na Ásia. E também o que aconteceu nos EUA junto com a bolha imobiliária e de crédito. Nesses dias, estamos vivendo o que normalmente acontece com economias do terceiro mundo. Leia o resto do artigo »