Krugman Whines WashPost Isn’t Buying His Insane $1 Trillion Coin Idea

May 8th, 2023 5:12 PM

When his insane solution to the current debt negotiation was panned by fellow leftists, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman took to twitter to whine to his followers. 

On Thursday, Paul Krugman complained about an article from the leftist Washington Post, which made the common-sense argument that creating a trillion dollar “platinum coin” would cause inflation. “Depressing to see the WaPo report as fact — not even a ‘some economists say’ — the claim that minting the coin would be inflationary,” Krugman claimed in a series of tweets. “It's not a fact. Almost surely no impact on the monetary base at all, because the Fed would sterilize payments to Treasury by selling bonds; this would actually just be backdoor borrowing, not monetary finance.” 

The idea that a trillion dollar coin would cause inflation was not only incorrect according to Krugman, but apparently self-evidently wrong, as Krugman ended his thread by declaring, “No excuse for misinforming readers about such basic stuff.”

Poor Krugman. 

This is not the first time Krugman has proposed this ludicrous solution. In 2013, Krugman was mocked by many, including by comedian Jon Stewart, for proposing the minting of a platinum coin. When he proposed the idea again in 2021, Biden Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told NBC News, “I wouldn't be supportive of the trillion-dollar coin. I think it's a gimmick.”

Competitive Enterprise Institute Senior Economist Ryan Young explained in an article that a trillion dollar coin would cause inflation and still only serve as a short-term fix. Young explained that minting this coin would “create small price increases on everything” and “cause inflation equivalent to a one-time $3,000 tax on every American.” 

Perhaps this does not concern Krugman. Why should it? Krugman has a net worth of $5 million and reportedly makes $300,000 to $500,000 per year.  As Krugman once began an article by writing, “The rich are different from you and me: They have immensely more power,” he may be unaware that the average American makes $55,640. What is $3,000 to Paul Krugman? This may also explain how he dared to tell Americans to rejoice about the coming end of inflation, when America was still reeling from 7.7 percent year-over-year inflation.

This is the same economist who told the incoming Biden administration in January of 2021 not to worry about inflation and denied that 40-year high inflation was a crisis. 

New York Times columnists are not like you: They are much more insulated from reality. 

Conservatives are under attack! Contact The New York Times at 800-698-4637 and demand it continue to distance itself from Krugman’s awful economic takes.