Economist Paul Krugman: How America went from 'optimism' to a painfully 'grim place'

10 December 2024

After almost 25 years, liberal economist Paul Krugman has retired from his position as a New York Times columnist (although he says he will "still be expressing my views in other places). Krugman's final column was published on Monday, December 9.

Krugman looks back on the ways in which the United States has evolved since January 2000, when the Times debuted his column and Bill Clinton was president. And he laments that the U.S. has gone from a mood of Clinton-era "optimism" to being in a painfully "grim place" as President-elect Donald Trump's second term draws closer.

"What strikes me, looking back, is how optimistic many people, both here and in much of the western world, were back then and the extent to which that optimism has been replaced by anger and resentment," Krugman explains. "And I'm not just talking about members of the working class who feel betrayed by elites; some of the angriest, most resentful people in America right now — people who seem very likely to have a lot of influence with the incoming Trump administration — are billionaires who don't feel sufficiently admired."

Krugman adds, "It's hard to convey just how good most Americans were feeling in 1999 and early 2000. Polls showed a level of satisfaction with the direction of the country that looks surreal by today’s standards. "

The economist argues that although "it wasn't all puppies and rainbows" when his Times column debuted during the Bill Clinton era, Americans were generally "feeling pretty good about the future when I began writing for this paper."

"Why did this optimism curdle?" Krugman writes. "As I see it, we've had a collapse of trust in elites: The public no longer has faith that the people running things know what they're doing, or that we can assume that they're being honest."

The columnist laments that the U.S. is going into 2025 in a very dark mood.

"So is there a way out of the grim place we're in?" Krugman says. "What I believe is that while resentment can put bad people in power, in the long run, it can't keep them there. At some point, the public will realize that most politicians railing against elites actually are elites in every sense that matters and start to hold them accountable for their failure to deliver on their promises…. We may never recover the kind of faith in our leaders — belief that people in power generally tell the truth and know what they're doing — that we used to have. Nor should we."

Krugman adds, "But if we stand up to the kakistocracy — rule by the worst — that's emerging as we speak, we may eventually find our way back to a better world."

Paul Krugman's final New York Times opinion column is available at this link (subscription required).

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