Back in July, BusinessWeek ran an article asking its audience, “Krugman or Paulson: Who You Gonna Bet On?” Krugman’s outlook on the economy was way too dark, the article suggested, forecasting a third depression, whereas Paulson’s was more evenhanded, noting that “we’re in the middle of a sustained recovery in the U.S.” and “the risk of a double dip is less than 10 percent.” The author stopped short of saying it, but, oh, Krugman knew what he was driving at. That the economist was a bearded fruit, Paulson, a “market wizard.” Today, deciding that sufficient time had passed to prove that you shoulda bet on the BF, Krugman sat down to his computer and banged out the closest approximation to an “in yo face!” that the Times will allow.

“Krugman or Paulson: Who You Gonna Bet On?” Sorry, can’t resist. That was the title of this Business Week article a few months ago. The tone made it pretty clear that if you had any sense, you’d ignore the bearded academic and go with the market wizard. So, how’s it going? I’m sure that if Paulson had proved right, there would be a followup article mocking yours truly. Wanna bet that there won’t be a piece saying that maybe professors know something that traders don’t?

*Big Swinging Academic.

Comments (26)

  1. Posted by InfiniteGuest | August 25, 2010 at 3:29 PM

    What’s Dr. Krugman’s return this year? Is he above the HWM yet?
    BW article will follow Sorkin’s apology.

  2. Posted by PermaGuest | August 25, 2010 at 3:30 PM

    Cat has better hair than he has.

  3. Posted by Anonymous | August 25, 2010 at 3:36 PM

    steady job at NYTimes and stroking a cat is the NKI.

  4. Posted by Anonymous | August 25, 2010 at 3:36 PM

    Did I miss that depression Krugman predicted? How bad was it?

  5. Posted by Pyrrhichios | August 25, 2010 at 3:38 PM

    I wonder if they asked him to pick the cat up for the photo so the readers really got a feel for what a BSA he is.

  6. Posted by Anonymous | August 25, 2010 at 3:49 PM

    One of my college professors had BSA after his name. Still think it’s probably referring to Boy Scouts of America though…

  7. Posted by Pfluger the Barbarian | August 25, 2010 at 3:51 PM

    In every photo, Dr. Krugman appears to be startled and frightened.

    In this particular photo, Krugman appears to be protecting the cat from some unseen foe.

  8. Posted by Texashedge | August 25, 2010 at 3:56 PM

    What a pussy

  9. Posted by Anonymous | August 25, 2010 at 3:57 PM

    Two fuckin pussies.

  10. Posted by . | August 25, 2010 at 4:01 PM

    Krugman is a fucking joke.

  11. Posted by John | August 25, 2010 at 4:06 PM

    I was not aware Krugman had passed CFA Level III

  12. Posted by trojan | August 25, 2010 at 4:09 PM

    krugman as matt hooper, noted woods hole oceanographer
    paulson as quint, avid fisherman and original man vs. wild
    gasbag as the shark

  13. Posted by Anonymous | August 25, 2010 at 4:12 PM

    The Carl Sagan of economics

  14. Posted by guest | August 25, 2010 at 4:15 PM

    He’s heavy petting that Pussy, isn’t he? Sick, but right!

  15. Posted by In Picture: Yes, No. | August 25, 2010 at 4:19 PM

    I bet Krugman needs a separate pair of bonobos for that pendulum-esque “academic.”

  16. Posted by Anonymous | August 25, 2010 at 4:45 PM

    @7 he’s protecting it from the evil banker, Mary Bale.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-11087061

  17. Posted by Anonymous | August 25, 2010 at 5:25 PM

    It’s been like 2 months there Kruggles… take it easy on the victory declarations

  18. Posted by plang1 | August 25, 2010 at 5:28 PM

    paulson blew this call not to metion buying gold at its peak,citi,bac and the rest!

  19. Posted by Anonymous | August 25, 2010 at 5:53 PM

    “The debate over the economy can be thought of as a trade”

    Wow, economics downgraded to a trade? ITT is the new Ivy!

  20. Posted by Anonymous | August 25, 2010 at 6:06 PM

    Paulson is just a dumbass who got lucky/had the right connections at the right time

    Krugman and Hatzius are right. always

  21. Posted by Anonymous | August 25, 2010 at 6:19 PM

    Here’s your double dip scenario:

    1) QE2 comes soon b/c of terrible numbers
    2) 3 weeks after QE2 we’re fucked again

  22. Posted by guest | August 25, 2010 at 8:44 PM

    I would bet on krugman to get caught blowing obama behind the white house (after Timmy warmed him up)

  23. Posted by Anonymous | August 26, 2010 at 9:23 AM

    July to August seems like the perfectly lenghty timetframe to determine the outcome of their respective positions … they were forecasting economic growth for the next month right?

  24. Posted by Jim | August 26, 2010 at 1:27 PM

    Meaningless anyway as all their fancy narative aside, by blind luck alone one of them will be right

  25. Posted by It's all BS! | August 26, 2010 at 1:35 PM

    July to Aug seems like a perfectly reasonable timeframe to determine the outcome …they were forecasting two month growth rates, right? And we did see a “double dip” recession and a third depression in the past two months? We might have missed it though, that story about Michael Kevin Lallana and the jizzy juice kind of took over!

  26. Posted by JackBlack | August 26, 2010 at 2:54 PM

    Krugman— reprobate

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