Elections aren't decided until after the World Series, according to the old axiom. The Series seems to last longer every year, but it's an old saw worth heeding, particularly now.
The McCain camp is playing every divisive card they can find, or make up. Some Americans are pro-America, others are not. Anyone who wants to register everyone to vote could well be investigated by the incumbent government,even if the law doesn't permit the Justice Department to try to influence the outcome.
What do we think about the FBI investigating Acorn?
What do we think about the lawsuits in Ohio that aim to bar voters from the polls?
What do we think about the robo-calls ripping through the key battleground states with the transparent purpose of discouraging voters from going to the polls?
Isn't there a better way to run a democracy in the most widely and deeply informed large society in the world?
As it happens, when I went into government in 1993 I started reading Krugman and have now read almost all of his books and almost all of his popular writing. I haven't read all his scholarly papers!
As a policy maker and inveterate if occasional adviser to policy makers, I have never found an economist who made more sense, gave more guidance, provided more timely and useful advice than Paul Krugman.
All praise to him and the committee that singled him out for the Nobel: a noble choice indeed.
There's no doubt that the general crisis of confidence in the American economy -- most clearly manifested by the seizing up of even the most normal lending activity --- will translate to a downturn in the GDP and a sad increase in unemployment.
There's no doubt also that in the short-run some federal spending in support of ready-to-go infrastructure and state and local budgets will make for a less cold winter economically than would otherwise be the case.
