[The Great RJ]

Krugman is quite ignorant of history. Reagan, inheriting the stagflation of the Carter administration, went against many of his economic advisers who advocated more government stimulus to the economy and chose to simply let the economy correct itself and put more money into the hands of tax payers with tax cuts. While the first two years were very difficult, when the tax cuts fully kicked in in 1983 there was an economic boom with GDP growth of 6-8% per quarter.

Keynesian economics said the simultaneous increase in inflation and unemployment (stagflation) during the Carter years was not possible as it violated the tenants of the Phillips curve. The standard Keynesian remedy of government stimulus applied to the conditions of stagflation created an inflationary spiral giving the double digit inflation of the late 1970s.

The economic events of the time are well documented in a book, The Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy by Daniel Yergin and Joseph Stanislaw. This book was later made into a three part PBS documentary that is currently available for viewing online. Link

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That is an excellent summary.

Carter and his economic team attained of level of incompetence that was previously thought impossible.

Now Team Obama is once again redefining how bad a president can be.