$223.3 trillion: The total indebtedness of the world, including all parts of the public and private sectors, amounting to 313% of global gross domestic product. Advanced economies tend to draw attention for their debt at the government and household levels. But emerging markets are gathering debt at an increasing pace to drive their economic development.
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2013/05/11/number-of-the-week-total-world-debt-load-at-313-of-gdp/
This is a very insightful column by an economist journalist who attempts to report in a manner of thoughtful integrity, a characteristic clearly lacking in Krugman. Strongly recommended to understand and contextualize Krugman.
The current dust-up between Paul Krugman and the “austerians,” in which the Princeton University economist, a columnist for The New York Times, cast Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff, both of Harvard University, to play the villain opposite himself, is reminiscent of an earlier episode in the same drama. . . .
I have known Krugman for a long time; I admire him. I share many of his convictions. I would even say that we are friends. His career as a journalist, like his career as an economist, has been studded with brilliant coups.
But as in the Little Rock case, he lacks a governor; or, in this situation, even an editor. The earlier episode ensured that Krugman would never again serve in government. (He had done a turn the CEA as a junior staffer under Martin Feldstein in the early 1980s.) This one surely cinches the case that he should never win a Pulitzer Prize. The habitual thumb on the scale has become contempt for the balance itself.
I have long wondered about the transformation of Krugman from a nobel worthy scholar to a pundit of the ilk of Brad deLong. There is really nothing wrong with the Rushs, Rachels and Seans of the world. But it seems to me there are plenty of these, a surplus if you will of low brow, cheap shot, non intellectual loud mouths. Krugman has a comparative advantage in economic science, as a pundit he does provide the appearance of intellectual credibility to the left, but I still shake my head, not only at this most recent example, but at a long line of blog and op eds.
I recently attended the Phoenix Comicon with my son. I was reminded of Krugman often as I was subjected to grotesque, inappropriate, self centered costuming and behavior to really no positive end, other that a self congratulatory egotism.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/economists-accuse-krugman-of-uncivil-behavior-2013-05-26
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Harvard academics Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff have accused fellow economist Paul Krugman of Princeton of ‘uncivil behavior’ in his criticisms of their work related to the debate over debt and austerity.
Reinhart and Rogoff are known for scholarly work that sought to highlight the negative effects of too much debt. Krugman, who is also a columnist for the New York Times, has been critical of their positions which are seen as endorsing controversial pro-austerity policies.
But Reinhart and Rogoff argue that some Krugman’s counterarguments have been unfair.
“We admire your past scholarly work, which influences us to this day,” a Saturday letter posted on Reinhart’s website said. “So it has been with deep disappointment that we have experienced your spectacularly uncivil behavior the past few weeks.”
The Harvard economists also wrote, “Your characterization of our work and of our policy impact is selective and shallow. It is deeply misleading about where we stand on the issues.”
While this is not my genre, I did enjoy myself. Among the many activities during Comicon, I heard the author Adam Rex speak. Rex grew up in Phoenix and lives in Tucson. My brother in law gave Smekday to my daughter as a gift and what a great gift. I was impressed with the thoughtful, analytical and very humorous take on the process of writing and the intersection of writing with publishing. My children and wife love his work, I have The True Meaning of Smekday on my summer reading list.
To get a sense of Rex's humor and art, click 10 Reasons to Read Smekday.
The book is in development by DreamWorks for a movie to be released in 2014.
A customer review from Amazon:
I find myself wishing I had half of Adam Rex's genius with language so that I could at least come close to describing how much I loved reading this book. Tip and J.Lo are a Huck and Jim for the 21st century, and their adventures are everything adventures should be: dizzying, hilarious (truly, I laughed out loud, and I almost never laugh out loud), dazzlingly brave, and crisscrossed with every possible emotion, including sorrow and the kind of fierce, fearless, loyal love only children and renegade Boov can feel. The illustrations are marvelous, but the language is what really hooked me because the language is quirky and lovely and electric and exquisite. Right word after right word after right word until the very end. Mark Twain would be proud. Mark Twain would be jealous! Everyone, everyone should read this book.
Looks like a great read for those interested in WW1.
The historiography of World War I is immense, more than 25,000 volumes and articles even before next year’s centenary. Still, Clark, offers new perspectives. The distinctive achievement of “The Sleepwalkers” is Clark’s single-volume survey of European history leading up to the war. That may sound dull. Quite the contrary. It is as if a light had been turned on a half-darkened stage of shadowy characters cursing among themselves without reason. He raises the curtain at 2 a.m. on June 11, 1903, 11 years before Sarajevo. We see 28 Serbian army officers shoot their way into the royal palace in Belgrade. King Alexandar and Queen Draga, betrayed and defenseless, huddle in a tiny closet where the maid irons the queen’s clothes. They are butchered, riddled with bullets, stabbed with a bayonet, hacked with an ax and partially disemboweled, their faces mutilated beyond recognition and the bloody half-naked remnants tossed from the royal balcony onto the grounds.
Clark argues a direct connection between the assassins of Belgrade and Sarajevo.
