But he doesn't get paid to write true statements, he gets paid to bring readers. And the reader should not suppose that Krugman is joking around when he reports that "Keynes whimsically suggested" burying bottles of cash. Here's Keynes:
Source: near the end of Chapter 10 of the General Theory. One wonders then why it would not be worthwhile to grab the newly-recovered bottles from the miners and bury them again. Krugman is a Keynesian. In the same chapter, Keynes doubles down on the wealth-creation-by-wasting-time-and-effort theory: "Pyramid-building, earthquakes, even wars may serve to increase wealth, if the education of our statesmen on the principles of the classical economics stands in the way of anything better." Krguman needs to get access to Wikipedia. He says, "Even if you take a global perspective, episodes of really high inflation have become rare." Really? I just mentioned my souvenir one-million-lira banknote, and also plugged the classic takedown of Keynes: What is seen and what is not seen. Wikipedia has a shorter version of the Parable of the Broken Window. If you're not bored silly yet -- perhaps even better if you are -- you should know that Keynes starred in some pretty good rap videos. http://econstories.tv/2010/06/22/fear-the-boom-and-bust/ http://econstories.tv/2011/04/28/fight-of-the-century-music-.../You would think he might have learned to be more cautious
You would think. Especially when writing an article titled "Why most economists' predictions are wrong."If the Treasury were to fill old bottles with banknotes, bury them at suitable depths in disused coalmines which are then filled up to the surface with town rubbish, and leave it to private enterprise on well-tried principles of laissez-faire to dig the notes up again (the right to do so being obtained, of course, by tendering for leases of the note-bearing territory), there need be no more unemployment and, with the help of the repercussions, the real income of the community, and its capital wealth also, would probably become a good deal greater than it actually is.