Paul Krugman Eats Crow: ‘Warnings About Inflation Have Proved Right’

There has been a seismic shift in economics: New York Times Paul Krugman, economist, finally acknowledged that inflation detractors were wrong all along.

The leftist economist surprisingly conceded in a new op-ed that others have warned “that we may face something comparable to the stagflation of the 1970s. And credit where credit is due.” Then came the sticker shock: “Inflation warnings are correct, so far. Team Transitory’sPredictions that inflation would soon fade were incorrect.” Talk about eating crow. Krugman recently conceded Nov. 14 that he “got inflation wrong” even though he tried to hedge by claiming he thought blindly believing the false “transitory” inflation narrative was “still the best bet.” His latest concession puts him even further at odds with his Nov. 11 column: “History Says Don’t Panic About Inflation.” National Review Jim Geraghty was a political reporter and documented at least six occasions throughout 2021 in which Krugman attempted to downplay or dismiss inflation’s threat.

In keeping with his modus operandi, Krugman couldn’t just take the loss and move on in his latest column. He twisted himself into a pretzel trying to explain why he was wrong — again. For example, even though he acknowledged that President Joe Biden’s gargantuan $1.9 trillion stimulus bill enacted earlier this year did cause inflation to “shoot up,” he still tried to spin that “overall spending isn’tExtremely high; it’s up a lot this year, but only enough to bring us more or less back to the prepandemic trend. So why are prices soaring?” 

Krugman again displayed economic ineptitude. According to data, the U.S. government will spend $6.82 trillion more in 2021 than it did the last four years. Also, Federal Reserve Economic Data show the extraordinary disparity between today’s spending in comparison to spending in decades past. Hint: it’s not even close. Krugman saying spending “isn’t extraordinarily high” is just ridiculous.

Then in an about-face, Krugman remained stiff-necked and said he’s still “a card-carrying member of Team Transitory.” However, Krugman noted, “I would reconsider my allegiance if I saw evidence that expectations of future inflation are starting to drive prices.” In his conclusion, Krugman took an outrageous parting shot at his opponents by claiming they were right for the wrong reasons:

The real lesson should be that we don’t know much about our current economic situation. Economists like me who didn’t expect much inflation were wrong, but economists who did predict inflation were arguably right for the wrong reasons, and nobody really knows what’s coming.

Krugman: Give up.

Conservatives under attack. For more information, contact ABC News (818-460-7477 or CBS News (212-975-3247) and ask for Krugman’s concession on inflation.