Rating: 
Summary: Necessary and extremely important analysis
Review: First, who cares if these are reprints from the New York Times? This is the first time I've encountered Krugman's work, and I was certainly not put off by the knowledge that these had appeared in print elsewhere - nor does this fact, of multiple publications, affect the economic analyses contained in the articles, which is surely more important than the circumstances of publication surrounding it.
In any case, reading these (for the first time) was not eye-opening but relieving - that intelligent, numerically-informed economists actually are paying attention to the latest rounds of policy decisions in Washington and Wall Street. Krugman finally says what more than half of the US - if you believe opinion polls - has been hoping someone would say, which is that the emperor has no clothes, and Bush's economic policies are based purely on murky ideologies and not at all on rational future-planning. Why paying taxes is considered worse than having no public universities, no public healthcare, even no sidewalks, is beyond me. Taxes, really, aren't that bad - they buy you quality of life, community, and allow for an institutionalization of generosity in the modern governmental state. I have no problem with paying taxes. That said, the brink of ruin upon which our economy seems to be teetering is an engineered brink; we have been put there, deliberately, it seems, by irresponsible policies about which no one seems to have a clear end-view.
I strongly recommend this book. It's literally of no relevance to the book's content if these essays have been published elsewhere, in a newspaper I, for one, do not even read. If you've already read the essays - don't buy it. But if you have a problem with the direction our country is moving in - ie. toward toward total collapse - buy this soon and read it quickly.
Rating:
Summary: Clear and Compelling--and Frightening
Review: Krugman is a godsend. As a Princeton economist, he has the training, the time, and most importantly, the job security to take on the huge job of analyzing the Bush administration's policies and exposing them for what they are. The corporate-owned mainstream press must bow to many masters, including popular opinion, and must placate the administration officials they cover for fear of losing the most precious thing in news: access. Krugman has the luxury (if that word applies to the daunting task he's taken on) of assiduously digesting the Bush camp's proposals and actions, including complicated economic plans that most of us have neither the training nor the time to study in detail, and point out in clear language how they differ not only from many of the administration's own statements but from what most people (i.e., the majority of us who aren't millionaires) want out of our government. I've been reading his Times columns faithfully, and find that they have done some of the best work widely available of demonstrating factually just how socially retrograde and economically dangerous the Bush policies are. He details the frightening arrogance and irresponsibility of those at the top of this government, facts that are only now beginning to be brought to the attention of the general public. If you're now surprised by the titanic budget deficit and what it has done and will do to the economy, the huge mess in Iraq--including the deceits that got us involved there in the first place--and the White House's cluelessness in dealing with it, the jobless 'recovery,' critical cuts in basic social services like schools, police and fire houses, health care and more, and revelations about continuing domestic security vulnerabilities, well, none of this is news to Krugman readers. Simply put, he's one of the best.
Rating: 
Summary: Always worth reading whether you agree with him or not
Review: It is sad that so many people only read books with which they agree! I read conservatives and liberals alike, since I always want to see both sides of the debate. On the liberal side, people such as Paul Krugman and the even more talented EJ Dionne over at the Washington Post are always worth reading, even if you disagree from time to time what they have to say. Read Dionne if you only read one liberal (he is a devout Catholic, which always makes him interestingly different) but Krugman is not a bad second. Then read George Will and Charles Krauthammer for balance - and make up your own mind! Christopher Catherwood, author of CHRISTIANS MUSLIMS AND ISLAMIC RAGE (Zondervan, 2003)
Rating:
Summary: really worth reading
Review: Ignore the people who have given this book one star. Paul Krugman is careful and incisive. His analysis is perhaps offensive to those who want to believe in the pie in the sky that Bush and his advisors have been offering us. Economics is a still a comparatively new field of study and there is not necessarily the final truth in the mathematical models that can be generated using assumptions which are often based on unexamined or insufficiently examined ideas. Paul Krugman rocks the boat of those who want to use economic analyses to benefit their own pocketbook and world view. He provides a needed counterbalance to the often self-serving positions of those having political and/or financial power. Our whole economic system can only be strengthened by this kind of critique.
Rating: 
Summary: How can a Free Market economist be socialist like Krugman?
Review: In this book, Krugman seems to lack a basic understanding of market economics. Wasteful spending is what causes deficits Krugman! Tax cuts to both corporations and individuals can and have under both the JFK and Reagan administrations raised revenue coming into the treasury. That is because tax cuts increase the revenue needed for capital investment. It is investment in new ideas that keeps the economy going and creates more jobs. Under Bush, we have increases in spending across the board which makes Bush a fiscally moderate Republican not a Reagan Republican (Krugman thinks your a radical if you want to let people keep a little more of the money they earn) Finally, when a liberal like Krugman starts talking about free market economic policy you have to laugh because Marxism is his religion - there was no free market in the U.S.S.R.
Rating:
Summary: What the doctor ordered
Review: This is the book we've been waiting for! Unlike most other books in the genre, The Great Unraveling is smart and informed, it avoids selectively choosing facts that artificially make the author's points seem clearer than they are, and it does not rely on comedy as a substitute for insight and intelligence. Bravo to author, columnist and economist Paul Krugman for creating the first political book I've seen this season that is at once honest enough, well researched enough, and also well written enough that it can target an audience that stretches far beyond the usual policy wonks and think tankers. Mr. Krugman somehow manages to be angry and sensible at the same time, no easy trick. Yes, of course, the author has an agenda. But anyone who thinks it is a simple "get-Bush" agenda is looking at it too simply. In this book Mr. Krugman looks at policy with an extremely critical but fair eye -- exactly what the fourth estate is supposed to be doing. Thank goodness someone is still doing his job. I have been a reader of Mr. Krugman's columns in the International Herald-Tribune for some time, and so I had read many of the "chapters" before they appeared in The Great Unraveling. But there is a great value to having all of these pieces in one place. And those who do not read Mr. Krugman's thoughts on a regular basis will find it hard to believe these writings were not written with the intention of forming a logical and cogent argument as they do on the book's 300-plus pages. I have always thought that Mr. Krugman's strength is his ability as a writer to make complex arguments understandable without cheapening them, but what I like best about his work is that he uses his writing skill in a supporting role, letting the facts tell the true tale. My complaint? I would have liked to see more new and longer commentary here. There is some, but one of the shortcomings to Mr. Krugman's normal forum in the New York Times is that he is limited to 500 or 750 words to make important points regarding issues as complex as the nation's budgetary problems, the justification for the war in Iraq, and corporate blunders. But I see no reason for such a limit here.
Rating:
Summary: Krugman Does A Wonderful Job
Review: 4 stars because I bought this book thinking it was going to be a completely new work; I was disappointed to find out it was only a collection of op-ed pieces from Professor Krugman. As an avid reader of his columns in the NY Times, I'm quite familiar with his work and would heartily recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an intelligent, cogent, well-written alternative to what our administration fobs off on us as "truth." One of the most valuable skills people living in in a free society can develop and exercise is critical thinking. It is a dying art in America. One of the best characteristics of Professor Krugman's work is that it offers concrete reasoning and economic theory to debunk the heavily perfumed "truth" of Bush administration policy. It is light on the baseless rhetoric favored by many critics of the administration and very critical of the baseless rhetoric of the administration.
Rating:
Summary: Superb collection by one of the best columnists in America
Review: For the past several years, one of the first things I do upon logging onto the Internet each day has been to check to see if Paul Krugman's latest column has appeared in the New York Times. Krugman has emerged as one of the very best economic/political commentators in the US. He has done this by making economics primary in considering the political economy, as opposed to those who have primarily focused on the political utility of a theory. For instance, as early as the halcyon days of Reagan's adaptation of Laffer's supply-side economics, that updating of the old pre-depression era version of trickle down economics was seen to be devoid of actual content, even by people like Reagan's budget director David Stockman and conservative columnist George Will. Many conservatives who recognized the conceptual inadequacies of supply side economics nonetheless clung to it because of its political value, i.e., it helped political candidates in elections, although it did nothing to help the economy and pretty obviously did a great deal of harm. Krugman consistently argues that political policies only make sense if they first make economic sense. Krugman has become progressively political over the years in his writing, but he is first and foremost an economist. And it is as an economist that he finds the policies of the Bush administration so desperately lacking. The good news and bad news of this book is that it consists primarily of reprintings of Krugman's New York Times columns of the past three years. It is bad news because for my part I would have valued a cogent discussion of the economic impact of the Bush tax and economic policies. It is good news because the columns are all utterly outstanding, and although in a somewhat piecemeal fashion, they do get at the very issues I would most like to see covered. Krugman writes at length about the California energy crisis (which was primarily not the fault of Gray Davis, which his critics allege), the true effects of trickle down economic policies, the nature of Bush's connections with Harken, the absurdities of Bush's claims about his tax policy, and a host of connected issues. There is considerable new material, especially in the introduction, but the heart of the book consists of his columns. Krugman's virtues as a writer are considerable. He has a real gift at breaking down complex issues into their constitutive elements, and recasting them in ways that non-economists can grasp. His writing is idea-driven and informed by a deep understanding of economics, a profound departure from many writers who decide on their conclusions first, and then concoct a theory to try and give it substance. Krugman has a deep commitment to facts and evidence. A couple of websites have tried to deconstruct much of what Krugman has said (e.g., about employment and the effects of trickle down), but this has inevitably led to a considerable amount of gentle yet firm butt spanking, brought on by the pseudo-grasp of theory by Krugman's would-be critics. While my first wish would have been for a book of completely new material, I am very happy to have these superb essays available in one volume. Anyone wanting to gain deeper understanding of the economic policies of the nineties and especially of the past two years needs to read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Read it and weep
Review: I am a huge fan of Paul Krugman's column in the NY Times, so I was very much looking forward to this collection of those pieces. Reading the column twice a week in the midst of everything else that's going on is one thing. Reading them collected together here is quite another. I believe Paul Krugman is in the unique position to tell us what's really going on. First of all, as a former reporter myself, I know how journalists often have to be beholden to (and protective of) their sources. As an economist, Krugman's "sources" are the data the government releases every day, so he is able to write truthfully without owing anybody anything. Furthermore, he is able to write engagingly and passionately about the current situation with the faux Administration, which I feel is actually making us *less* safe than ever. Al Franken and Molly Ivins are writing on a similar topic, but they are basically satirists. Nobody can write on our perilous times quite like Paul Krugman. For anybody concerned about the devastating, long-term consequences of a misguided, malevolent administration, this book makes absolutely essential reading.
Rating:
Summary: What's wrong with America and how to fix it
Review: A collection of Krugman's editorials from the New York Times since the Bush Administration took (literally) office. Economist and Princeton professor Krugman explains why we are back into deficits, why the right-wing GOP refuses to work within the limits of the American political framework, why Americans are now pessimistic about most things, and he exposes George W. Bush for what he is -- A power hungry liar. But, not only does Krugman point all this out with his great logic and wit, he also (unlike most current political authors) offers ideas on how we can get our great country back on the right track again. Highly Recommended!!
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