The elfin Paul Krugman, Nobel Laureate, has created the newest theme for the Obama / Progressive / Democrats in this election cycle.  It will last about as long as it is useful . . . in other words, not long at all for the simple reason that it’s so transparently silly.

First, the diminutive economist argues that government employment at all levels, federal, state, and local has declined since the expiration of the Stimulus bills.  Let’s assume that’s true. It then affirms the argument that anti-stimulus Conservatives and Republicans made during the debate over Porkulus – a temporary stimulus would only produce temporary jobs that would evaporate and the vaunted Congressional Budget Office now estimates the Conservatives were right. The cost?  $4,200,000 EACH for Lost Jobs!  It served one purpose: To fund public employee unions that fund Democrat politics.

Second, wee Paul sneers at Conservatives who he claims like Chicken Little sounded alarms that Mr. Obama’s reckless spending would produce meteoric inflation and catastrophic interest rates, which hasn’t happened . . . yet. But even a smart Keynesian economist – possibly an oxymoron given that John Maynard Keynes himself retreated from his seminal work later in life, claiming that his prescriptions were intended to be targeted discretely and short-term, versus politicians who had abused them and transformed them into ineffective “long-term strategies, would acknowledge that with the world economy moldering along, especially in our largest trading zones, and the ChiCom economy grinding to a halt, there is no instant pressure on the dollar or interest and inflation rates.  Be patient.

Imagine if and when the economies of the industrialized states improve and there is pressure on natural resources, commodities, food stuffs and capital. We’ll see hyper-inflation, hyper interest rates, and vast shortages of life’s necessities while Paul hyper-ventilates.

It’s entertaining to review puny Paul’s recent waxings.  To his credit, he no reservations about reversing course for transparent political gain.  And because he’s intellectually dishonest, he is not taken seriously in the academy or politics.

Now, if only he would return the fees he “earned” as he drove Enron to bankruptcy and shareholders and poor working stiffs to welfare.