Rating: 
Summary: If "they" could only accept the truth
Review: To be honest, I was a bit disappointed in the book. Would have liked more recent commentary mixed in with the articles, some of which are from 1999. There may be new info for readers who dont follow the economy however. It is most amusing (or sad)to read the negative reviews here. Our "elected" officials have basically sold the country to corporations, and anyone who is still a dedicated right or left winger is delusional or uninformed. Those in office are filling their pockets and pitting us against one another. Wake up (if you can)!
Rating: 
Summary: Long-awaited critique
Review: Great book about the economic catastrophe awaiting us. Apart from that, I was stunned by the review given by the Anchorage person. Reading that review, it is clearly evident that the Anchorage school system needs to be reviewed.
Rating:
Summary: One look at the 'anti' reviews proves Klugman's points.
Review: There are a host of well-reasoned thoughtful reviews in support of Klugman's well-written, well-reasoned book here - and even a few just as well-reasoned critiques. There is little I could add that hasn't already been said and said quite articulately. And then there are the ravings of the froth-at-the-mouth lunatics of the extreme right - just read the moronic, vitriolic, ad-hominim nonsense spewed forth from the Ann Coulter wanna-be "A reader from Anchorage" under the title "Krugman is a liberal whiner" (10/27/03). These merely prove by their own ravings that there really is a "lunatic fringe" out there. Unable to refute (or probably even understand) any of Klugman's arguments, the knee-jerk dittoheads of the Right repeatedly descend to the lowest level of grotesquely distorted character assassination and mindless school-yard invective. The extreme venomous and semi-coherent (I flatter, perhaps) ravings of people like "A reader from Anchorage" do more to make the point that there is a really dangerous, ignorant, hateful, conspiracy-obsessed, and just plain vicious loony fringe occupying the Right Wing of American politics - masquerading as Conservatives - than all of the books by Ivans, Conover, Klugman, Franken, et. al. can do with their copious and well-researched facts. Its like going to the zoo to see your first scorpion after merely reading descriptions about them. One actual exposure to these unreasoning, paranoid fanatics enlightens us more than a thousand pages of written description. Krugman should take comfort - "by his enemies shall ye know him." Also recommended: "The Paranoid Style in American Politics, and Other Essays" by Richard Hofstadter. An excellent academic study of the last time the lunatic fringe of the extreme Right rose to power and control of the Republican Party during the cold war of the 50's and early 60's by a dual Pulitzer Prize winning historian. Spookily prophetic.
Rating:
Summary: Optimism is a bad strategy when facing high risk
Review: This is a brilliant book and I hightly recommend it.
Krugman has revealed gaps in our thinking which we must acknowldege if we want to move ahead. Individually, and as a society, we have endorsed positive thinking as the antidote to all our problems. In the late 1990's, irrational optimism was prevalent in our society. Experts such as Rosalene Glickman, Ph.D. (author of Optimal Thinking) and Martin Seligman, Ph.D.(author of Learned Optimism) explain that optimism is a bad strategy when the cost or probability of failure are high. The "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" attitude" can lead us to disaster. In her ground breaking book written for realists, Optimal Thinking: How To Be Your Best Self, Glickman shows us how to optimize thinking in every situation and minimize wishful thinking. Read Glickman's book on the 5 shortcomings of positive thinking, and you will understand how we can minimize disastrous optimism (which can lead us to pessimism), regain control, and optimize our lives.
Rating:
Summary: Nutters hate Krugman's truth!
Review: Although Krugman engages in the political wars, he is also something that is rare in that arena, an accomplished economist with distinguished credentials. He has aroused an enormous number of the haters. Most of them think that George Bush knows something about economics. But then, most of them can't read. And those who do read, are mindlocked with whatever propaganda they're fed by the extremists who now rule this country. They don't care that Bush has sent government spending out of control or that the government can't come close to paying for its military forays. No pain. Lots of gain. If you're the right folks. But not the average American. They will pay and pay and pay. And Bush and his cronies will still want more. Perhaps when they see their city or town devastated by insane economic policies that benefit only a very few, they'll feel differently. But one thing is for sure. There ain't nothing conservative about these nutters. Your grandchildren's grandchildren will be paying for the debt Bush has piled onto the taxpayer's back. But you know, someone else's grandchilden won't have to worry. Bush has just given them the billionairs welfare forever.
Rating: 
Summary: Krugman is a liberal whiner
Review: This book shows all about that liberals are nothing but stupid crybabys and whiners. Krugman thinks that if you are a lazy drug addict the goverment should give you MY MONEY so you can take more drugs and kill people! He does not prove one thing he says, he just makes things up because he knows that stupid liberals will believe anything he says against President Bush! He works for the lieing New York Times . Heres a newsflash for him: Bill Clinton is the disgrace, not President Bush. Clinton caused the Moslum threat and Bush is killing them and that drives the liberals CRAZY! I love it!!! if Krugman is so happy about soicalism he should go live in russia or cuba. the Krugman and Al Franken (stupid NOT FUNNY idiot) are traiters and want to wreck America. They should join the talliban. Those books are for idiots. If you want to read all about how liberals are idiots read Ann Coulters book and Michal Savages book. Oh I forgot liberals are to stupid to read.
Rating:
Summary: The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy Is Alive And Well
Review: Paul Krugman was never, ever fooled. The Princeton economist/New York Times columnist saw right through George Bush's "compassionate conservatism", saw right through to its malignant, dark core and he was not afraid to use words like "fraud" and "dishonesty" in describing policies designed to do nothing more than divert wealth into the hands of the already wealthy. "The Great Unraveling" is mainly a compilation of Professor Krugman's columns; his lucid and logical writing (if a bit heavy-handed on the numbers at times-he is, face it, an economist) lays bare exactly what the Republicans are up to, which is nothing less than a radical restructuring of a government they view as illegitimate. George Bush was hardly given a mandate after the 2000 election. Fully half a million more Americans voted for Al Gore and it took the intervention of the right wing ideological cabal of the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the vote counting in Florida and annoint him president. Two cabal members, Mr. Justice Scalia and Mr. Justice Thomas, had family members (Scalia's son and Thomas' wife) working for Mr. Bush's election yet neither had the decency to recuse himself taking part in Bush v. Gore. Of course, the kittenish Democrats, apparently not wanting to offend anyone, did not move for their recusal. It is clear that neither justice would have stepped aside, but their public refusal to do so would have given the nation a whiff of the stench that was brewing. The press (and "the press" comes in for some serious charges of coziness and cowardice in "The Great Unraveling") was mostly silent. Mr. Bush, now President Bush, was not at all sheepish when he ascended the throne as the president of a country split 50-50 along party lines. Professor Krugman is really at his best when writing about the radical contortions the Bush people used to justify the massive tax cut that plunged the country into the red and fattened the already bloated coffers of the wealthiest ( read that "Republican" ) amongst us. Were taxes being cut to reduce the surplus and return the money to the middle class? Hardly, since the middle class got squat. Stimulate the economy? Create jobs? No, and no. The money went to rich people. Professor Krugman's numbers are irrefutable. "The Great Unraveling" also shows how 9/11 provided the Bush White House with excellent cover to continue, and to augment, their radical social and economic agenda by allowing them to cram everything under the rubric "war on terrorism" and to then question the patriotic bona fides of anyone who challanged them. Professor Krugman demonstrates that the war on Iraq was actually a step backward in the war on terrorism because it diverted attention from the true terrorists in the world. Try as they might, the White House just can't portray Paul Krugman as some wild-eyed radical. No, "The Great Unraveling" shows the country who the true radicals are; we have met the enemy and it isn't Paul Krugman.
Rating:
Summary: This Explains So Much!!!
Review: Paul Krugman is an economics professor who actually manages to make his subject interesting. In this collection of columns from The New York Times, revised and expanded for this book, Krugman analyzes what went wrong over the last few years. In the late 1990s the US looked forward to the twentyfirst century with the prospect of rising budget surpluses and prosperity. Now we face an uncertain future, dominated by the necessity to deal with increasingly huge budget deficits and the concomitant economic woes that they will bring with them. How did this happen? Krugman pulls no punches. He places the blame for the present state of affairs squarely on the shoulders of the Bush Administration and its allies in Congress and elsewhere. Krugman correctly identifies these people not as conservatives but as radicals, out to force their extremist, reactionary ideology on the nation. With the media increasingly either pro-Bush or too frightened of him to speak out, and with the Democrats in similar disarray, Paul Krugman's book could not have come out at a better time. We can hope that the book will find a wide audience throughout the country as the 2004 election draws near, and that it spurs dissent and revulsion against the Bush team next November.
Rating:
Summary: Great Unraveling: Desperate Ultra-Liberalism
Review: Krugman is a master at distortion, extreme subjectivity, and biased exaggeration under the guise of (but of course!) "truth."
Reading anyhing written by Krugman would be absolutely hilarious were it not for the realization that there are, indeed, ultraliberals and other probably well-educated but assuredly not-too-bright individuals who actually believe what he purports to be factual to be so. With that realization come cold, stark fear; yes, there are indeed adult homo sapiens who will believe every word to be factual, and devour the words with extreme-partisan relish.
Basically, Krugman's books are for individuals who have been the victims of liberal academia: taught what to think, but never how to think; individuals who could not possibly care less about researching a topic themselves, gleaning all available information, and arriving at rational conclusions on their own.
As neither liberal nor conservative (although the farther left the former has ventured, the more to the right of the middle-of-the-road I have moved to avoid being pulled over the edge with them) I can easily recognize the hallmarks of fanaticism: constant accusations of lies, hypocrisies and conspiracies indicate far more clearly that the writer and his faithful followers have enough to hide to justify the accusations.
Simply put, the more ultra your liberalism, the more you will relish Krugman's books. If, however, you possess intelligence greater than that of a well-trained circus chimp, you will no doubt wonder how anyone, however vehement their hatred for conservatism, could possibly stomach such substanceless drivel.
Rating:
Summary: New York Times Propagands
Review: Krugman published "Peddling Prosperity: Economic Sense and Nonsense in an Age of Diminished Expectations" in 1995 and "The Return of Depression Economics" in 2000. A glance at those titles and the publication dates reveals the incongruity in lis latest work blaming current economic problems on the Bush administration. To anyone who has actually looked at American economic history, the sequence of cheap money policies driven out of Washington, a runaway speculative boom, and the morning after hangover is nothing new. What leaps out at you is how mild the problems of the last few years have been. It doesn't leap out at Mr. Krugman, however. It can't. He is paid by the New York Times to blame the Bush administration for these difficulties. If he acknowledged that the difficulties are much less than should have been expected, there wouldn't be enough blame to justify his pay. More generally, the New York TImes is no longer a credible entity on many levels. Krugman is just one more jewel in a spattered crown. If you need details, check out the National Review's website for analyses of some of Krugman's articles. They have some really devastating things to point out.
| 
