And who will pay the price for this triumph of orthodoxy? The answer is, tens of millions of unemployed workers, many of whom will go jobless for years, and some of whom will never work again. -- The chilling conclusion to Paul Krugman's most recent column in the New York Times, outlining what he believes heralds the onset of the world's Third Depression.
Paul Krugman the renowned journalist and Nobel Prize winner in economics has outlined a rather bleak picture for the world's immediate economic future finding cause to worry about the direction of much of the world's governments as they race towards deficit reduction, while still in the teeth of a rather nasty recession.
Krugman who is by far no wild eyed doomsday theorist, provided his take on the direction of our economic condition and in his eyes it is apparently destined to be replay of the errors of the past with the subsequent same results.
While he suggests we may miss out on a disaster the scope of the 1930's, he still sees great danger in the path currently taken by the nations of the world as they tread through the worst economic crisis since that Great Depression.
The recent events at the G20 in Toronto did little to alleviate his sense of a world heading in the wrong direction, with the drum beat of the world's governments one of obsessing as he says "about inflation when the real threat is deflation, preaching the need for belt-tightening when the real problem is inadequate spending."
That focus he fears will bring the world much more likely now to face the same kind of Depression as that of the 19th century, one which he says will continue to bring forward an economy blighted by a lack of jobs by the millions, with many of the unemployed destined to never work again. You can read the entire article from the New York Times website (see article here)
When Krugman delivers his missives, there is a groundswell of support from other journalists and economists, thankful that a person with such a high profile platform can finally gain the attention of the world.
To that end, in the short hours since the Krugman article first appeared in the New York Times, there have been a number of other like minded warnings to follow. Making for a very interesting if slightly un-nerving primer in the current financial malaise.
Telegraph UK online-- Warning signals of a double-dip recession flash brightly across the world
Guardian UK online-- Global markets on 'cliff edge' amid fears over European banks
Globe and Mail -- Why Paul Krugman, David Rosenberg fear a looming depression
The Independent-- The Third Depression - or negflation
The Independent-- The Third Depression - or negflation
Of course not everyone sees world events in the same prism as the left leaning New York Times journalist. A number of financial reporters and commentators have weighed in with their own thoughts, leaving those of us on the outside to wonder who has it right and what we should be ready for.
Business and Media Institute -- Kudlow, Forbes Debunk Krigman's Third Depression Call
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