Megan McArdle and Paul Krugman

Max Fisher 129 Views Nov 30, 2009

Megan McArdle and Paul Krugman are econopundits who write regular columns and keep up blogs, but that's where the similarities end. The Atlantic's McArdle is a small-government libertarian. The New York Times's Krugman is a big-government liberal. McArdle really, really doesn't like Krugman's ideas and says so almost weekly. Krugman has directly engaged McArdle once, but his frequent derision of libertarians would certainly include her.

It's no small thing, then, that the two found something to agree on--a mere 7,000 short miles away: Dubai's debt crisis. Krugman writes:

[Y]ou can see this as basically just another commercial real estate bust. Either you view Dubai World as nothing special, despite sovereign ownership, as Willem Buiter does; or you think of the emirate as a whole as, in effect, a highly leveraged CRE investor facing the same problems as many others in the same situation. Finally, you can see Dubai as sui generis. And really, there has been nothing else quite like it.

McArdle agrees:

I agree with Professor Krugman--it's hard to see this presaging a sovereign debt default by, say, the United States.

The truce in the McArdle-Krugman econo-war is unlikely to stand, so enjoy it while it lasts.

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at mfisher at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.

Sources

Rashomon in the Desert, Paul Krugman, The New York Times
Rumbles in the Desert, Megan McArdle, The Atlantic

Topics: World Economy

Related Articles				More by Max Fisher
Bonuses Do Work--Just Not for Bankers	Americans Think China Has the World's Largest Economy	Fear Grips Europe as Greek Crisis Threatens to Spread		What's Next for Tunisia?	Guarded Optimism for Iran Nuclear Talks