Arguing with Zombies

[My review of the 12min summary]

Paul Krugman is the Nobel Prize-winning economist, college professor, and New York Times columnist. This book is a collection of some of his published columns.

Krugman says that some of the Republican political views are zombies. They're ideas that have no evidence behind them. No matter how many times you try to kill them, they just keep shambling toward you.

The book talks about the lies about Social Security that the Republicans knowingly made in an effort to convince the public that Social Security was failing, so they could privatize it.

He also talks about economic inequality. Rather than confront the actual causes, Republicans blamed: • Highly educated workers • The decline of family values • Technological advancement In all three cases, Krugman shows why these are not true.

He also addresses climate change and the excuses the Republicans made for not addressing it.

Lest you think that he blames all of our ills on Republicans, fear not! He also shows how the pro-Trump/anti-Hillary media bias gave us Donald Trump.

He also talks about the authoritarian, conspiracy-driven Trump administration.

Overall, this book is a small island of clarity in the murky swamp of misinformation that we swim through daily.

FINAL NOTES (quoted from 12min) "In 'Arguing with Zombies,' Krugman shows that the most effective weapons in the fight against zombie ideas are facts and common sense. David Cay Johnston, a Pulitzer Prize winner, praised Krugman's bestseller saying: 'Years after appearing in the daily newspaper, Paul Krugman's columns resonate because he avoids the herd mentality of most journalism. Applying history, math, and humanity, he transforms our understanding of great issues and when writing on economics translates the dismal science into plain English.'

I loved Krugman's writing ever since I bought the softcover Peddling Prosperity when it was new, and I'm pretty sure I paid full retail price for it. I've subscribed to the New York Times in no small part because Krugman is a columnist there. Mind you, that wasn't the full price digital New York Times subscription. I have to decide if I want to renew once the bargain basement annual rate that I received expires.

But anyway, this "book" is worth an Audible credit if you liked Krugman's columns over the past couple of decades. The articles are not strictly chronological, but organized in sections leading up to the January 2020 publication. Not much about COVID-19 in this book, but Krugman uses what he said 15 years ago to point out that the present day was part of the predictable progression. He's not wrong, but hearing a figurative "see! told you so!" from Krugman (via someone else's voice reading his columns on his behalf) just as we were heading into a global pandemic was weird listening.

I'm giving this 5 stars because Krugman is so much better at punditing than almost all of the other pundits out there (e.g. most of the other columnists at the NYTimes). For me, it wasn't the mind-blowing primer in Keynesian economics that I received in Peddling Prosperity, and Krugman does tend to repeat many of his lessons over multiple books. For example, this book has yet another retelling of the Washington DC babysitting co-op, and how that relates to the Keynesian theory of currency supply. But the babysitting co-op story is really powerful, and worthy of multiple retellings. I liked this book because it was a good reminder of why I like Krugman as a pundit.