# The Conscience of a Liberal - Author: [Paul R. Krugman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-r-krugman.md) - Quotes: 10 - Book page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-r-krugman/the-conscience-of-a-liberal ## Quotes > Sometimes economists in official positions give bad advice; sometimes they give very, very bad advice; and sometimes they work at the OECD. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-r-krugman/the-conscience-of-a-liberal/sometimes-economists-in-official.md) > The best you can say about economic policy in this slump is that we have for the most part avoided a full repeat of the Great Depression. I say “for the most part” because we actually are seeing a Depression-level slump in Greece, and very bad slumps elsewhere in the European periphery. Still, the overall downturn hasn’t been a full 1930s replay. But all of that, I think, can be attributed to the financial rescue of 2008-2009 and automatic stabilizers. Deliberate policy to offset the crash in private spending has been largely absent. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-r-krugman/the-conscience-of-a-liberal/the-best-you.md) > As Branko says, there was a time when Serbs and Croats seemed to get along fairly well, indeed intermarrying at a high rate. But could anyone now put Yugoslavia back together? At this rate, we’ll soon be asking the same question about America. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-r-krugman/the-conscience-of-a-liberal/as-branko-says.md) > We’re living in a Dark Age of macroeconomics. Remember, what defined the Dark Ages wasn’t the fact that they were primitive — the Bronze Age was primitive, too. What made the Dark Ages dark was the fact that so much knowledge had been lost, that so much known to the Greeks and Romans had been forgotten by the barbarian kingdoms that followed. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-r-krugman/the-conscience-of-a-liberal/were-living-in-a-dark.md) > To be a progressive, then, means being a partisan—at least for now. The only way a progressive agenda can be enacted is if Democrats have both the presidency and a large enough majority in Congress to overcome Republican opposition. And achieving that kind of political preponderance will require leadership that makes opponents of the progressive agenda pay a political price for their obstructionism—leadership that, like FDR, welcomes the hatred of the interest groups trying to prevent us from making our society better. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-r-krugman/the-conscience-of-a-liberal/to-be-a-progressive.md) > We’re now in the seventh year of a slump brought on by Wall Street excess; the wizardly job of “allocating the economy’s investment resources” consisted, we now know, largely of funneling money into a real estate bubble. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-r-krugman/the-conscience-of-a-liberal/were-now-in-the.md) > I believe in a relatively equal society, supported by institutions that limit extremes of wealth and poverty. I believe in democracy, civil liberties, and the rule of law. That makes me a liberal, and I’m proud of it. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-r-krugman/the-conscience-of-a-liberal/i-believe-in-a-relatively.md) > I would summarize the Keynesian view in terms of four points:1. Economies sometimes produce much less than they could, and employ many fewer workers than they should, because there just isn’t enough spending. Such episodes can happen for a variety of reasons; the question is how to respond. > > 2. There are normally forces that tend to push the economy back toward full employment. But they work slowly; a hands-off policy toward depressed economies means accepting a long, unnecessary period of pain. > > 3. It is often possible to drastically shorten this period of pain and greatly reduce the human and financial losses by “printing money”, using the central bank’s power of currency creation to push interest rates down. > > 4. Sometimes, however, monetary policy loses its effectiveness, especially when rates are close to zero. In that case temporary deficit spending can provide a useful boost. And conversely, fiscal austerity in a depressed economy imposes large economic losses. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-r-krugman/the-conscience-of-a-liberal/i-would-summarize.md) > It has been obvious for quite a while that Sanders — not just his supporters, not even just his surrogates, but the candidate himself — has a problem both in facing reality and in admitting mistakes. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-r-krugman/the-conscience-of-a-liberal/it-has-been.md) > What does Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez know about tax policy? A lot. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paul-r-krugman/the-conscience-of-a-liberal/what-does-alexandria.md)