A Stitch in Haste

I've taken New York Times columnist Paul Krugman to task before regarding his all-out propaganda war against Social Security reform.

So I found this litte piece of history fascinating:

Meanwhile, when it comes to policy flip-flops, liberal New York Times pundit Paul Krugman demonstrated that John Kerry was a piker. In 1996, four years before George W. Bush was first elected president, Mr. Krugman fawningly -- and correctly, it must be noted -- endorsed the thesis of Peter Peterson's book, "Will America Grow Up Before It Grows Old: How the Coming Social Security Crisis Threatens You, Your Family and Your Country." In it, Mr. Krugman asserted, "The budgetary effects of this demographic tidal wave are straightforward to compute, but so huge as almost to defy comprehension." He warned that "the crisis" was "just over the horizon." In November, eight years after Mr. Krugman warned of the "demographic tidal wave" that was "just over the horizon," he declared in his NYT column that "it's a problem of modest size," a view echoed by his paper's editorial page.

Politics do not trump arithmetic. Nor do they trump intellectual or journalistic honesty.

Too bad Krugman doesn't understand that.

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Waiting for Reform