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Master Class with Paul Krugman: Economics in a Pandemic

Join New York Times op-ed columnist, Nobel Prize winning economist, and bestselling author Paul Krugman for this Master Class on present day economics. Zoom questions “live” to follow the lecture.

Covid-19 is the most severe economic shock since the Great Depression. It’s like nothing we’ve seen before. But that doesn’t make it incomprehensible. In fact, basic economic analysis tells us a lot about what we should and shouldn’t be doing right now.

To deal with this properly, however, we need to get past standard rhetoric. The economy is, in effect, in a deliberately induced coma—and necessarily so. So this isn’t about “job creation” or economic growth; we don’t need “stimulus.” What we need is disaster relief on an unprecedented scale, to get people through the shutdown with as little misery as possible.

Unfortunately, we’re struggling with the legacy of decades of anti-government ideology. Congress hasn’t approved remotely enough aid, and even the money it has approved isn’t getting through because key areas of government competence have been deliberately undermined.

We can fix this. But for tens of millions, time is running out.

Mr. Krugman is a Distinguished Scholar at CUNY Graduate School in New York City.

Paul Krugman’s most recent book is Arguing with Zombies: Economics, Politics, and the Fight for a Better Future. The book can be ordered at here or here. Please support independent booksellers during this difficult time.











When: Mon., May. 11, 2020 at 7:30 pm
Where: The 92nd Street Y, New York
1395 Lexington Ave.
212-415-5500
Price: $20
Buy tickets/get more info now
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Join New York Times op-ed columnist, Nobel Prize winning economist, and bestselling author Paul Krugman for this Master Class on present day economics. Zoom questions “live” to follow the lecture.

Covid-19 is the most severe economic shock since the Great Depression. It’s like nothing we’ve seen before. But that doesn’t make it incomprehensible. In fact, basic economic analysis tells us a lot about what we should and shouldn’t be doing right now.

To deal with this properly, however, we need to get past standard rhetoric. The economy is, in effect, in a deliberately induced coma—and necessarily so. So this isn’t about “job creation” or economic growth; we don’t need “stimulus.” What we need is disaster relief on an unprecedented scale, to get people through the shutdown with as little misery as possible.

Unfortunately, we’re struggling with the legacy of decades of anti-government ideology. Congress hasn’t approved remotely enough aid, and even the money it has approved isn’t getting through because key areas of government competence have been deliberately undermined.

We can fix this. But for tens of millions, time is running out.

Mr. Krugman is a Distinguished Scholar at CUNY Graduate School in New York City.

Paul Krugman’s most recent book is Arguing with Zombies: Economics, Politics, and the Fight for a Better Future. The book can be ordered at here or here. Please support independent booksellers during this difficult time.

Buy tickets/get more info now