Bleeding Heart Guilt-O-Meter: How Robert Murphy Is Painting Paul Krugman into an Ever-Smaller Corner
Gary North
Oct. 30, 2010
This is the cleverest polemical strategy I have seen in years.
Austrian School economist Robert Murphy has challenged Nobel Prize-winning Keynesian Paul "the stimulus was too small" Krugman to a public debate over Keynesianism and economic recovery.
Normally, Krugman could easily brush this off. "Who are you, maggot? I'm a New York Times pundit."
So, Murphy came up with a great idea. There is a charitable outfit that creates what I call triggered giving. You register to donate money to a cause, but your credit card does not get dinged unless a specified event takes place. You know in advance what this event is. The outfit gets 5%. That's a good deal for everyone.
Murphy set up a pot of money for poor people in New York City. Debate-lovers register to donate. They set their personal limits. If Krugman shows up and debates, the pot fills up with money in one shot. The poor people are helped.
If Krugman refuses to show up, the empty pot gets larger. I call it the Bleeding Heart Guilt-O-Meter. It forces Krugman to say, 24x7:
"I am so scared of meeting a little-known Austrian School economist in a structured debate that I would rather see lots of poor people go hungry. When it comes to reducing poverty, count me out."
Krugman then becomes Paul "let them eat cake" Krugman.
The pot is well over $40,000 and rising fast.
http://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/campaign-0-1240?utm_source=invite&utm_medium=email
This offer has created a sensation. I searched for "Robert Murphy," "debate," and "Paul Krugman." Look at the number of hits. Click here.
Krugman is refusing to debate. If he finally consents, he can say, "I was just trying to help more poor people." I know that's what I would say.
Then he will get his head handed to him by Murphy. He will run into a buzz saw. His Nobel Prize will do him no good at all.
It's a win-win deal for Murphy. It's a lose-lose deal for Krugman. Let's hope that he takes the "let's all help the poor" loss.
Watch this computer-generated video. It is really funny. This was produced by a simple typed script. Anyone can do it. If Murphy wrote it, he can become the Jerry Seinfeld of libertarianism. Well, at least the Henny Youngman.
YouTube - Murphy-Krugman Debate v3
