[Lazamataz]

Everyone is abandoning socialism except Krugman.

[ExTxMarine]

Everyone is abandoning socialism except Krugman and Obamao.

There, I fixed it for you.

[muawiyah]

Krugman simply isn't up to date. At one time buggy whips were certainly a powerful instrument for the usage of the public infrastructure.

Today railroads are certainly exceedingly valuable and may well be a technology that will continue to be of use well into the future, but do we need 1898's 250,000 miles of track, or can we do the job with only 139,887 miles?

With respect to highways, do we really need extra lanes on all the Interstate quality roadway or can we continue developing auto-pilot systems for cars and more than double both the speed we can move the cars down the road, and the number of cars to be moved (a 4 fold improvement)?

Will another tunnel from New Jersey to New York be meaningful?

How about a third airport for Indianapolis Indiana to handle nothing but express freight? Or would it be more useful to pave an additional runway at Kansas City, or maybe Minneapolis?

If central water supply systems are no longer adequate, how about adding extra capacity in the form of local compact recycling units at major places of employment, schools, and large housing developments? Certainly a technological "fix" costing a few tens of millions of bucks can easily displace a steel and concrete "expansion" that costs billions!

I think the man's brain is frozen.

[LibLieSlayer]

krug is a full blown commie.

LLS

[mulligan]

Krugman is a disgrace. Krugman fits the description of jackass, just like Obama.

[fightinJAG]

I wonder if Krugman really understands how many public works projects were completed during the New Deal era: basically by *volunteers* (often limited to those whose families were already on welfare) who, in return for their manual labor, were given "three hots and a flop" (three meals and a place to sleep) and very small wages -- some of which was required to go back to their family if their family was on welfare.

Mr. Krugman, would this work today? How much would this labor have cost, in today's dollars, if instead of three hots and a flop and a small wage, workers were required to be employeed, say, at union rates and with full benefits, including Obamacare?

And would the young people on welfare, or whose families are on welfare, even consider doing manual labor for a comparable compensation?

The Civilian Conservation Corps, for example:

The typical enrollee was a U.S. citizen, unmarried, unemployed male, 18–20 years of age. Normally the family was on local relief. Each enrollee volunteered, and upon passing a physical exam and/or a period of conditioning, was required to serve a minimum six month period with the option to serve as many as four periods, or up to two years if employment outside the Corps was not possible. Enrollees worked 40 hours a week over five days, sometimes including Saturdays if poor weather dictated. In return he received $30 a month with a compulsory allotment $22–25 sent to a family dependent, as well as food, clothing and medical care.[12]