Even mild-mannered award-winning economists have limits...
Paul Krugman takes time in his blog to address the not so little matter of people who become incensed because the views they favor are dismissed -
not because those views are incoherent or factually wrong (when they are), but because they feel they are not being treated with respect. It's the kind of argument that begins with "Do you know who I am?" or "Who do you think you are?" It's often a knee-jerk authoritarian response, because one must never question authoritarian leaders on anything. (Both leaders and their followers are united in this.) They demand respect, no matter how little they deserve it.
Krugman makes a simple point.
If people consistently make logically incoherent, ignorant arguments, the duty of a commentator is to say just that — not to mislead readers by pretending that they’re actually serious and making sense. You shouldn’t make gratuitous insults — I have never, to my knowledge, declared that someone’s mother was a hamster and his father smelt of elderberries. But stupid/ignorant is as stupid/ignorant does, and influence changes nothing.
Where I’ve been getting pushback lately is in my pronouncements that the whole Republican field is talking nonsense on economic policy. That’s a terrible thing to say, I’m told. But what if it’s true? And of course it is.
Now the mainstream media is about nothing but giving these people respect. No one dares say the Emperors have no clothes - because then the Emperors refuse to talk to them and condemn the press for its 'liberal bias'. They also dare not give too much notice to those loudly calling out the news about the Emperors continuing wardrobe malfunctions - as per the non-coverage of Bernie Sanders message.
Never mind that one of the priorities of right wing media is to deliberately disrespect everything and everyone to the left of them. It's what authoritarians do, after all. And it's also why Megyn Kelly is currently taking a leave for undisclosed reasons while Donald Trump's doing just fine after slamming her. The GOP base is really into that respect thing, and they think dissing the Donald is dissing them.
Which is why Krugman's blog post is like a small breath of fresh air. As he concludes,
I know that it’s disturbing to read columns that portray the entire field as a bunch of cranks. But it would be a dereliction of duty, basically an act of dishonest reporting, to pretend that they aren’t. I’m all for respect here — but the people who deserve respect, in the form of honest assessment, are my readers.
Honest reporting - what a concept!
(About that picture at the top of this page? It's an image that went viral. Paul Krugman has commented on it. It's explained here, and this is where it started. Here's a picture of the real Paul Krugman for comparison.)
BONUS CBS Sunday Morning is taking a look at Al Franken this morning.