2016 The Choice: Paul Krugman on the economic platforms of the 2016 candidates
By Alex Bregman
On Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016, Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric talked with Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, an op-ed writer for the New York Times, about the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, his take on the candidates’ economic plans, the future of the Democrats and the Republicans and Bob Dylan’s response to winning the Nobel Prize.
The day after Clinton appeared on the campaign trail with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Krugman weighed in on the impact she’s had on the campaign and on the Democratic Party. Krugman said, “[Warren] represents, as some people say, the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party. There’s going to be a struggle clearly for Hillary Clinton’s soul, assuming she wins,” Krugman said. “I suspect that Clinton is more in sympathy with the Elizabeth Warren wing than most people imagine, but we’ll see.”
On what sort of impact Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders will have if Clinton does win the White House, Krugman said, “If you look at what Hillary Clinton’s long-term career has been like and she’s actually, she was always trying to pull her husband to the left during those years.” He continued, “So I think we — but we’ll find out, and the point is now there is an active left wing, nothing [about] America looks left-wing by the standards of any place else in the world, but there’s a progressive wing of the Democratic Party that is going to be a pressure block. It’s not going to say let’s turn it all over to the usual suspects.
They also discussed the politics of trade and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), of which Krugman calls himself a “soft opponent” and which Clinton came out against during the campaign. On whether or not Clinton’s opposition to TPP was a matter of convenience or principle, Krugman said, “I think it was a little of both. But, look, I’m against TPP, softly — I’m calling myself a soft opponent, and I’ve been a big booster of world trade, of globalization, for a long time.”
Krugman explained that TPP is more than just a trade deal. He said, “The point about it is that TPP is not actually about world trade. It’s about other things. It turns out if you dig into the details, world trade is already very free. And TPP is about intellectual property protection, in other words patent monopolies.” He continued, “It’s about enhancing the ability of businesses to appeal government decisions, and it’s not the worst thing ever proposed. It’s actually not that big of a deal. When you figure out how much difference it will make, the answer is not a lot. … It’s become a symbol.”
Krugman also defended the Affordable Care Act in the face of the fact that health care premiums under the Affordable Care Act are set to go up an average of 25 percent next year. “I think the basic story here is that for the first several years, premiums were actually way below predictions.” He explained that insurance companies were “overly optimistic” in the early years of the law, and they’re now playing catch-up in premiums.”
He also explained that the Affordable Care Act is different across the country. He said, “It also, by the way, varies a lot across states. This is a state-by-state setup, and states that have managed their own programs well, like California, are doing much, much better than states that have not.”
He also downplayed the negative news, saying, “It makes headlines, but it’s actually not as big of a deal. … It’s not good clearly.” He continued, “A lot of people receive subsidies … under the Affordable Care Act.” In other words, he explained, the out-of-pocket costs are not going to go up very much even with the rise in premiums.
Turning to Donald Trump, Krugman predicted what he thinks will happen to Trump if he loses the election and whether he’ll start some sort of media organization. He said, “I suspect that he himself will rather quickly go shrink in public profile. … I don’t think there’s that much actual loyalty to him when all is said and done.” On the potential for a Trump media organization, however, Krugman said, “I have no idea whether he can make a go of this, but the market for extreme right-wing media is clearly going to be very strong. That’s going to be out there, you know. We see that a lot of people are getting their news from places like Brietbart already, which is essentially now, Brietbart is essentially running the Trump campaign. So this won’t go away.”
Finally, Krugman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, weighed in on what he thinks about Bob Dylan giving the Nobel committee the cold shoulder so far since it was announced earlier this month that Dylan had won the Nobel Prize. Krugman was disappointed in the music icon: “I don’t know what’s going on in his head. That’s a shame. I mean, even if you think it’s pomp and silly, you know someone has given you an enormous compliment. You owe it to say thank you by at least responding. Look, it’s bad form. What the hell?”
Yahoo News Now Special Edition: “2016 The Choice” — Every weekday until the election, we’ll be coming to you live from the Yahoo Studios in New York City, bringing the latest information and analysis of the day’s most compelling storylines in the race for the White House.
