Watching on from Australia I am horrified so I am glad there are still some sane Americans. This movement is so obviously corrupt and authoritarian I would never have picked America to go for this.
I really miss the old America. You guys were great for the world.
LOL ... I remember every neighbor who posted a Trump lawn sign during election season. My stomach sinks whenever I see one of them. If I'm outside and see one walking near my home, I run back in the house to protect my peace of mind.
Every time I go to the local Home Depot, I pass through a neighborhood full of huge signs touting Trump's victory, saying Vance will be President for eight years after that, and saying "Get Over It."
Why is nobody calling a spade a spade? What’s happening here is a coup! All the evidence points to it. Or how else would you characterise a putsch? All the democratic and constitutional cornerstones are at least under attack.
We ARE pursuing the legalities but they take TIME. There are activists governors who are helping. I think we are waiting for more leaders to emerge. Pritzger and Newsom are really helping. The senators are doing more of their share. Many house members are also screaming. (Who wants to work with the R’s? YUK)
We all just need to a) solidify — people are still splitting hairs instead of solidifying the fight against FASCISM and b) all of us need to get LOUDER.
Americans are allowing the Trump regime all the time they need to consolidate power. So that by the time people perhaps are roused to action it will be too late.
The apathy in the US is staggering. At this point there should be 10x the number of people in the streets as we are seeing now. Don’t people realize their livelihood is at stake? I guess people don’t care if illegals are carted off with a few innocent people in their midst, people figure it will not affect them much. But the economy is crucial. Destroying the thermometer will not help matters in any way.
The regime continues to destroy the country, and with it a ripple effect on the world. Medicine, science, the environment, government and even basic decency are targets. Many are mad as hell and shouting out windows, while listening to the echoes of discontent. But Big Brother marches forward from Bethlehem and has already been born. Must we wait for a voice from the wilderness, or is someone organizing a resistance that has forgotten to let me know it is making its presence known?
Antoni just joins a long list of incompetent bottom dwellers throughout this admin. Bondi, Patel Pete /H, the list goes on and on topped off by Kennedy. So why wouldn't this supine Senate confirm another loser to a high post? What MIGHT be our only saving grace, MIGHT BE, is the fact of the total incompetence of the. ruling class. Never has there been a more out of touch group of morons placed atop our government before and ti will either crash totally due to the incompetence or this country is, just as we turn 250 years old, surely lost fur good.
Remember the days when this was headline criticism of the Chinese government? Can't trust their data. But Mr Krugman is right, and that this situation is worse, because we were setting the standard for reporting. I'm hoping that this will, at some point, make even conservatives very very nervous.
I agree that this could be comparable to China's hiding bad statistics (youth unemployment recently). However, I imagine Trump's supporters feel data, numbers and graphs are inherently designed by nerdy, coastal, ivy League liberals to make them feel stupid. As is using words like "Totalitarianism."
Trump wants to be a dictator with the goal to line his family and friends pockets with $$$ taken from lower income Americans and small businesses who actually work hard for their money. The CEOs, politicians, and academic hacks who stroke his ego are out for more of the same.
I know. Too many words. But, maybe ChatGPT could create the right image.
China has been outsourcing cheap labor to Vietnam, India, and Africa for a while now. Meanwhile, they've been kicking butt with automation, including "dark factories":
I had one of my economist friends used the pithy analogy yesterday that the longer the actual numbers get hidden the more it's like a train catching fire DEEP in a tunnel rather than near the entrance point...
"It's almost impossible to get any responders in and the passengers out. Pretty much everybody dies"
He used to work for BNSF before he went back to school for economics, hence the analogy.
My comments do not reflect the views of my agency.
Unless they have a way to accelerate the vetting/voting process, I am not sure any nomination made in mid-August will clear until after the October BLS reports are in, and the overall situation could look a lot different by then.
Well, we might know whether the jobs picture continued to deteriorate (in which case the argument that this month’s revisions were fake enough to fire the agency head is awkward) or whether we can spot a stronger trend in inflation, or whether anything happens that would support a more positive narrative.
I understand the staff at the bureau of labor statistics do not want to loose their jobs, but couldn't they continue to run those reports 'discretely', and 'anonymously' somewhere?.. The real numbers are too important to general use and knowledge to be left in limbo. Plus when the current regime is out (it will be, right? At one point?) It will be easier to import back the data rather than building back everything from scratch?.. Actually I can see that working in all areas Trump is destroying: a real America with the reality of things, existing in parallel of Tump's rosy version..
I could be wrong, but I think that two or three year old economic data would be pretty useless. Industry depends on reasonably accurate and timely data in order to make decent decisions. If they know they aren't getting that (and they will), they will make decisions assuming the worst. One consequence mentioned by Jared Bernstein is something called "embedded inflation" - where companies increase their prices assuming that there will be high inflation in the future. That, of course, causes higher inflation.
To the extent that it can. The U.S. is not one ethnicity (I know I'm simplifying about Russia) and does not have a national and nationalistic church. Observe the follies of those who have been trying over 250 years and continue to try to create these things here.
Arendt’s Law that “Totalitarianism in power invariably replaces all first-rate talents, regardless of their sympathies, with those crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity is still the best guarantee of their loyalty” is largely true, but there are notable exceptions. The Nazis not only kept Werner Heisenberg around, they gave him everything he wanted or needed to build an atomic bomb. Similarly, the Soviets lavished money, resources, and privileges on the likes of Andrei Sakharov, to develop their hydrogen bomb.
The Heisenberg story is only partially true. His work was hobbled because it could not use "Jewish physics." That is, the theories that emanated from Einstein and similar physicists. See "Heisenberg's War: The Secret History Of The German Bomb." https://www.amazon.com/Heisenbergs-War-Secret-History-German/dp/0306810115/
Good reference. The book by Thomas Powers to which you refer also reflects major uncertainty about what Heisenberg actually thought. He was asked for his views on the possibility of atomic weapons, and in June of 1942 he gave Albert Speer a very pessimistic report on the possibility. It is unclear whether that is what he actually believed, or whether he was slow walking the whole thing. The result was that the German atomic bomb project was under resourced, un coordinated, and generally half assed.
From a WWII Army Staff SGT, "“I’ve seen men bleed out in the Ardennes for a flag you’re not fit to hold, let alone wrap yourself in. You think bluster is bravery, but I’ve led men through hell—and you couldn’t march through rain without whining about your hair."
I still can't believe that other Americans voted us into this Hell. I resent them deeply.
The ones I resent are the ones who didn't bother to vote at all. They allowed this to happen.
I voted in Texas, which is *sorta* like not voting at all.
I know what you mean, but don't give up! Hopefully Texas Dems can stop Abbott from this insane illegal gerrymander.
Good point!
Watching on from Australia I am horrified so I am glad there are still some sane Americans. This movement is so obviously corrupt and authoritarian I would never have picked America to go for this.
I really miss the old America. You guys were great for the world.
I hear you!
LOL ... I remember every neighbor who posted a Trump lawn sign during election season. My stomach sinks whenever I see one of them. If I'm outside and see one walking near my home, I run back in the house to protect my peace of mind.
Every time I go to the local Home Depot, I pass through a neighborhood full of huge signs touting Trump's victory, saying Vance will be President for eight years after that, and saying "Get Over It."
That frightens me. Seriously.
Why is nobody calling a spade a spade? What’s happening here is a coup! All the evidence points to it. Or how else would you characterise a putsch? All the democratic and constitutional cornerstones are at least under attack.
We ARE pursuing the legalities but they take TIME. There are activists governors who are helping. I think we are waiting for more leaders to emerge. Pritzger and Newsom are really helping. The senators are doing more of their share. Many house members are also screaming. (Who wants to work with the R’s? YUK)
We all just need to a) solidify — people are still splitting hairs instead of solidifying the fight against FASCISM and b) all of us need to get LOUDER.
Americans are allowing the Trump regime all the time they need to consolidate power. So that by the time people perhaps are roused to action it will be too late.
Americans -- or Congress??
I’ve ALWAYS enjoyed your columns and newsletters, but this “new” post-NYT “Krugman Unleashed” is awesome 👏🏽
Totally agree! Yes!
The apathy in the US is staggering. At this point there should be 10x the number of people in the streets as we are seeing now. Don’t people realize their livelihood is at stake? I guess people don’t care if illegals are carted off with a few innocent people in their midst, people figure it will not affect them much. But the economy is crucial. Destroying the thermometer will not help matters in any way.
I, for one, am not going out on the streets because of the crowds, the heat, my osteoarthritic knees and the →distance to the nearest bathroom←.
I'd say my only contribution is goosing up charity donations, but it's still a drop in the bucket.
One’s ability for energetic street protest definitely declines with old age.
The regime continues to destroy the country, and with it a ripple effect on the world. Medicine, science, the environment, government and even basic decency are targets. Many are mad as hell and shouting out windows, while listening to the echoes of discontent. But Big Brother marches forward from Bethlehem and has already been born. Must we wait for a voice from the wilderness, or is someone organizing a resistance that has forgotten to let me know it is making its presence known?
Alexandra Petri satirizes the Trump regime hilariously. Definitely worth a subscription if you can afford it.
https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2025/08/maha-future-rfk-wearables-health/683758/
Antoni just joins a long list of incompetent bottom dwellers throughout this admin. Bondi, Patel Pete /H, the list goes on and on topped off by Kennedy. So why wouldn't this supine Senate confirm another loser to a high post? What MIGHT be our only saving grace, MIGHT BE, is the fact of the total incompetence of the. ruling class. Never has there been a more out of touch group of morons placed atop our government before and ti will either crash totally due to the incompetence or this country is, just as we turn 250 years old, surely lost fur good.
Remember the days when this was headline criticism of the Chinese government? Can't trust their data. But Mr Krugman is right, and that this situation is worse, because we were setting the standard for reporting. I'm hoping that this will, at some point, make even conservatives very very nervous.
I agree that this could be comparable to China's hiding bad statistics (youth unemployment recently). However, I imagine Trump's supporters feel data, numbers and graphs are inherently designed by nerdy, coastal, ivy League liberals to make them feel stupid. As is using words like "Totalitarianism."
Trump wants to be a dictator with the goal to line his family and friends pockets with $$$ taken from lower income Americans and small businesses who actually work hard for their money. The CEOs, politicians, and academic hacks who stroke his ego are out for more of the same.
I know. Too many words. But, maybe ChatGPT could create the right image.
Sad to report that i agree, even without help from AI. (Another scam to enrich the rich.)
I listen to Mr. Krugman whenever I can. We all need to be aware of what is going on in our country.
China has been outsourcing cheap labor to Vietnam, India, and Africa for a while now. Meanwhile, they've been kicking butt with automation, including "dark factories":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YiaDXGQk7k
🎯🎯
Hanging with the cool kids - https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-stop-releasing-youth-jobless-rate-data-aug-says-stats-bureau-2023-08-15/#:~:text=Aug%2015%20(Reuters)%20%2D%20China,the%20world%27s%20second%2Dlargest%20economy.
I hadn't seen this. Perfect synchronicity.
I had one of my economist friends used the pithy analogy yesterday that the longer the actual numbers get hidden the more it's like a train catching fire DEEP in a tunnel rather than near the entrance point...
"It's almost impossible to get any responders in and the passengers out. Pretty much everybody dies"
He used to work for BNSF before he went back to school for economics, hence the analogy.
I think he's on to something.
My comments do not reflect the views of my agency.
Unless they have a way to accelerate the vetting/voting process, I am not sure any nomination made in mid-August will clear until after the October BLS reports are in, and the overall situation could look a lot different by then.
Tell us more please. What is going to look different?
Well, we might know whether the jobs picture continued to deteriorate (in which case the argument that this month’s revisions were fake enough to fire the agency head is awkward) or whether we can spot a stronger trend in inflation, or whether anything happens that would support a more positive narrative.
I understand the staff at the bureau of labor statistics do not want to loose their jobs, but couldn't they continue to run those reports 'discretely', and 'anonymously' somewhere?.. The real numbers are too important to general use and knowledge to be left in limbo. Plus when the current regime is out (it will be, right? At one point?) It will be easier to import back the data rather than building back everything from scratch?.. Actually I can see that working in all areas Trump is destroying: a real America with the reality of things, existing in parallel of Tump's rosy version..
I could be wrong, but I think that two or three year old economic data would be pretty useless. Industry depends on reasonably accurate and timely data in order to make decent decisions. If they know they aren't getting that (and they will), they will make decisions assuming the worst. One consequence mentioned by Jared Bernstein is something called "embedded inflation" - where companies increase their prices assuming that there will be high inflation in the future. That, of course, causes higher inflation.
I am curious to know, assuming he does the same thing at the Fed, where it will be possible to get accurate economic data.
US is becoming Russia.
To the extent that it can. The U.S. is not one ethnicity (I know I'm simplifying about Russia) and does not have a national and nationalistic church. Observe the follies of those who have been trying over 250 years and continue to try to create these things here.
Confucius had some words on this (from Pound's translation):
"When the head of state, or family, thinks first of gouging out an income,
he must perforce do it through small men; and even if they are clever
at their job, if one employ such inferior characters in state and
family business, the tilled fields will go rack swamp and ruin,
and edged calamities will mount up to the full....
This is the meaning of:
A state does not profit by profits"
Tseng's Comment from Confucius: The Great Digest, the Unwobbling Pivot, and the Analects
Arendt’s Law that “Totalitarianism in power invariably replaces all first-rate talents, regardless of their sympathies, with those crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity is still the best guarantee of their loyalty” is largely true, but there are notable exceptions. The Nazis not only kept Werner Heisenberg around, they gave him everything he wanted or needed to build an atomic bomb. Similarly, the Soviets lavished money, resources, and privileges on the likes of Andrei Sakharov, to develop their hydrogen bomb.
The Heisenberg story is only partially true. His work was hobbled because it could not use "Jewish physics." That is, the theories that emanated from Einstein and similar physicists. See "Heisenberg's War: The Secret History Of The German Bomb." https://www.amazon.com/Heisenbergs-War-Secret-History-German/dp/0306810115/
Good reference. The book by Thomas Powers to which you refer also reflects major uncertainty about what Heisenberg actually thought. He was asked for his views on the possibility of atomic weapons, and in June of 1942 he gave Albert Speer a very pessimistic report on the possibility. It is unclear whether that is what he actually believed, or whether he was slow walking the whole thing. The result was that the German atomic bomb project was under resourced, un coordinated, and generally half assed.
…..those people who short stocks are gonna make a killing when the Us goes into a recession
From a WWII Army Staff SGT, "“I’ve seen men bleed out in the Ardennes for a flag you’re not fit to hold, let alone wrap yourself in. You think bluster is bravery, but I’ve led men through hell—and you couldn’t march through rain without whining about your hair."