Krugman: ‘We’ve Had a Parade of Billionaires Whining’ They’re Being Criticized

‘There’s a level of harshness in our debates mostly coming from the people who are actually doing very well’

Paul Krugman on Living in Ugly Times (BillMoyers.com)

Economist Paul Krugman recently joined Bill to talk about the new academic book rocking the best-seller lists: Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century. In this clip, Krugman says that our debates on income inequality, and how to combat it, have gotten downright ugly.“

"There’s a level of harshness in our debates mostly coming from the people who are actually doing very well," Krugman tells Moyers. “We’ve had a parade of billionaires whining about the incredible injustice that people are actually criticizing them. And then comparing anyone who criticizes them to the Nazis. It’s almost a tic that they have.” Krugman recently wrote about the billionaires — including Home Depot co-founder Ken Langone — who have spoken out and surmised that the idea that income inequality is the result of a systemic problem and not a lack of sufficient effort on the part of those struggling to get by “is anathema” to them.
 

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