Paul Krugman's cameo in "Get Him to The Greek"

[bluebucket]

Really Paul Krugman, Really? Seems like he is more interested in furthering his celebrity than economics these days. Or can you do both?

 

Is anyone out there pursuing a PhD in Econ because you want to be in movies?

[Harry Lime]

I once saw him randomly in public, I almost didn't believe it was him until I heard his angelic voice. It's amazing, he was just as short as I imagined him to be.

[HopefulFutureEcon]

I think once you get a Nobel in Economics, you can pretty much do whatever you want. You have reached the public intellectual level and have carte blanche to do what you will with your time.

 

Also, he probably uses it to get out of speeding tickets. Just keeps the medal dangling from the rear-view.

[dreck]

Well, it was IMO the funniest thing in an otherwise disappointing movie, so I'll forgive him this time.

[econ2012]

I don't like Krugman the ideologue, I am sure he himself doesn't believe some of the stuff he says when he takes on Republicans.

 

However, Krugman can get away with anything because the guy is simply brilliant when he puts on his "economist hat". He is a very good economist, excellent writer, and the Nobel Committee definitely got it right. But he should give the Republicans a break lol.

[manchild]

I was wondering if it was an attempt by Krugman to try to get a Erdos-Bacon number, but it looks like Krugman doesn't even have an Erdos number.

 

I might start a new thread on this...

[pappy]

I know Krugman won a Nobel Prize, but he won it for his work in international and I've heard criticism that he tends to express his views on economic topics that he isn't exactly an expert in

[econ2012]

I know Krugman won a Nobel Prize, but he won it for his work in international and I've heard criticism that he tends to express his views on economic topics that he isn't exactly an expert in

 

That is called arrogance. Unfortunately he is not the only Economist who tends to offer criticisms on topics in which he isn't exactly an expert

[untitled]

I was wondering if it was an attempt by Krugman to try to get a Erdos-Bacon number, but it looks like Krugman doesn't even have an Erdos number.

 

He doesn't co-author much, I think. But a quick check says he wrote a book with Masahisa Fujita, who has an Erdos number not greater than 4. Just a side note, most major economists have Erdos numbers in the 3/5 range, I think. If you have coauthored a publication with an economist with some experience, I'll bet your number is less than 10, probably less than 7, Another common coauthor of Krugman, Elhanan Helpman, also has number 4.

[dreck]

That is called arrogance. Unfortunately he is not the only Economist who tends to offer criticisms on topics in which he isn't exactly an expert

 

Oh come on. Are you an expert (whatever that means) on everything to which you offer an opinion? And are you going to call every economist with a blog arrogant, then?

[pappy]

yea but i mean my guess is that the vast majority of people don't know that Krugman won the Nobel for trade, which is pretty much tangential to what the vast majority of people know Krugman for, i.e. opinion pieces and macro stuff. Not sure that anyone should be weighting Krugman's ideas on the macro economy heavier than, say, Thomas Sargent's, but they probably would tend to. He's kind of like Noam Chomsky in the way that he's a certified public intellectual and people tend to take his word as gospel, but he doesn't have as much formal background in his (current) area of interest as it would seem.

[tommyg28]

yea but i mean my guess is that the vast majority of people don't know that Krugman won the Nobel for trade, which is pretty much tangential to what the vast majority of people know Krugman for, i.e. opinion pieces and macro stuff. Not sure that anyone should be weighting Krugman's ideas on the macro economy heavier than, say, Thomas Sargent's, but they probably would tend to. He's kind of like Noam Chomsky in the way that he's a certified public intellectual and people tend to take his word as gospel, but he doesn't have as much formal background in his (current) area of interest as it would seem.

 

IMO it would be hard to dispute the theoretical underpinnings of Krugman's blog musings. Yes, his Nobel may have been conferred for trade, but his work on currency crises was also cited. Surely this allows him to discuss the current mess in the Eurozone. His work on Japan provides us with valuable insights in operating at the zero bound, to which he also refers readers to more recent papers (e.g. Eggertson, Woodford, etc.). And a quick comparison of his (and Wells') textbook with that of Mankiw's reveals that whilst both are obviously overly rudimentary, Mankiw's is in many parts blinkered. I'm surprised Mankiw's book has been widely adopted (but that's another issue), and yet based on what has been written above we are to see Mankiw as carrying greater weight than Krugman on all things macro.

 

Not being mainstream macro is surely a boon at the current juncture.

[IPreferPi]

And a quick comparison of his (and Wells') textbook with that of Mankiw's reveals that whilst both are obviously overly rudimentary, Mankiw's is in many parts blinkered. I'm surprised Mankiw's book has been widely adopted (but that's another issue), and yet based on what has been written above we are to see Mankiw as carrying greater weight than Krugman on all things macro.

 

My sentiments exactly. I really don't understand why Mankiw's text is the standard for principles courses. Though for my money, the best principles text is still Samuelson's 1948 edition of Economics.

 

And I don't get the criticism of "Krugman isn't a macroeconomist - his comments on the state of the macroeconomy are bunk." Krugman may be more well known for his work on trade theory, but he's done a considerable amount of work in international/open economy macro, e.g. Japan and the Far East during the 90's. Plus, he received his PhD from MIT during the 70's, when the rational expectations paradigm was taking over macro - he's certainly familiar with the theoretical foundations of modern macro, even if he isn't an active researcher in it (though most economists past 50 aren't active researchers anyways). It shouldn't take him too long to grasp the thrust of the NK/DGSE models that are prevalent in the field today.

[Erin]

Haha, New York Magazine, whatever that is, picked up on this thread: Paul Krugman’s Cameo in Get Him to the Greek -- Daily Intel

[dreck]

Holy mother of God I got quoted in New York magazine. Hahahahahahaha. And they didn't even ask permission!

[Canuckonomist]

You can tell your kids that you were one day in New York Magazine as 'Some guy on the internet'. That, of course, is my dream -to be some-guy-on-the-internet, and to be known for it.

[Elliephant]

This is uproariously funny! Great job for picking it up, Erin. And dreck - congratulations. "Some guy on the internet"... wow.

[Elliephant]

This claim to fame may not be as impressive as dreck's NY Magazine one, but our TM jokes got quoted by Jodi Beggs of Economists Do It With Models. Geektown is a small world. :)

[fp3690]

Unbelievable, 1400+ plus posts and I missed this thread for damn comps! Seriously, though the discussion is antiquated, saying that Krugman doesn't know macro is ridiculous. Sure he hasn't done much research on productivity or job flows and matching (actually admitted it himself on his blog today that he needs to get a better grasp of DMP) but when you have done as much work as he has on open macro (including lots of monetary stuff concerning liquidity trap) and be as well cited as he has been (seminal papers on liquidity trap, BOP crises, debt overhang) I think your opinion is still valid.

 

Such arguments would be valid for other economists of completely different fields that did have strong public views on the crisis and the stimulus, and I especially have in mind Becker and Fama. Brilliant as Becker might be (no other person has had such effect on applied micro), last time he dealt with macro was when he took comps in the 50s. So when you are as respected and high profile as he is and you know people respect your opinion, you should really be more responsible offering public opinions on stuff you know little about. Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion, but, to make a ridiculous reference, with great power comes great responsibility...