On Paul Krugman's Conservatives

Since the election Paul Krugman has been a little obsessed with a certain concept.  No, I don’t mean his opposition to what may very well be an “austerity-bomb,” (i.e. more commonly called the fiscal cliff) that may occur at the end of the year. Rather, I am talking about his viewpoints on the delusions and power obsession of conservatives. 

He references "conservative heads exploding" and "Power-Mad Conservatives" on the 7th, "self-definition in terms of always being the people with the power" and on the 8th, he was on an airplane on the 9th, "Delusions of Reason" and lack of qualification of the Republican party on the 10th, the "“center-right” country of fantasy," on the 11th, "complete delusion" on the 12th, the "authority of bosses over workers, of men over women, of whites over Those People" on the 14th, and "a deliberate appeal to racism" on the 15th. Strangely enough he doesn't seem to have anything about this posted today. But that could simply be because it is the Friday before Thanksgiving.

Krugman makes two points. First, conservatives currently live in information bubble (i.e. regarding their prospects for this past election and in terms of the fiscal cliff in particular) and second, conservatives are power hungry.  Rather than denying these claims (I consider myself fairly conservative), I would agree to them. Granted, I think his language is a little over the top, but where his analysis is invalid is where he fails to compare the "conservative information bubble" and the "conservative hunger for power" with the same bubble and hunger in liberals. If I remember correctly, these two claims were being flung out at liberals over the ACA just two years ago. The ACA and the contraceptive HHS mandate are current examples of what would normally be considered an "exercise of power."

As for information bubbles, I know very few people that are either liberal or conservative that take a true interest when I bring up the difference between the effective tax rates and the stated tax rates. Sometimes, I still get the bewildered look from people when I say Keynes's name.  As for the election anticipation bubble, I only know of one person that thought Romney was going to win. Many hoped, but few believed. Perhaps Paul Krugman, like Jon Stewart, has simply watched too much Fox News lately and believes that Fox encompasses a general portion of current conservative thought.

I have the highest respect for Paul Krugman. I have read several of his books and during my undergraduate I referenced his work on a regular basis both to understand the topics and cited him within my papers. I have not managed to finish his new book, End This Depression Now! But if you are ever writing a paper on the effects of geography and development on a country, I would recommend Development, Geography, and Economic Theory. 

 On a completely different note, I like his taste in music.