John Maynard Keynes Meets George Orwell

Paul Krugman is famous for his stridency. He advocates a dogmatic Keynesianism with an air of certainty and the frequently repeated aspersion that anyone who disagrees with him is dishonest, ignorant, a hack, a stooge. He cannot be swayed. If there are exceptions that disprove his theories—like, say, the Baltic states—he ignores and ridicules them. Admit nothing. Deny everything. Make counter-accusations.

But since his stridency has made him famous and won him adulation from the left, Krugman has been encouraged to emphasize this character trait to the point of comical exaggeration. He is heading into that strange netherworld where William Shatner has been living for the past twenty years. He is becoming a caricature of himself.

I don't know how else to explain his latest column, in which Krugman tries to recruit the launch of the iPhone 5 as evidence for the efficacy of government stimulus spending. No, really.

Read the rest at RealClearMarkets.

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