Paul Krugman - New York Times Blog   
      
    September 16, 2013, 8:33 am   
      
      
    In Front of Their Noses   
      
    Antonio Fatas, like me, is boggled by the OECD's apparent   
    inability even to contemplate the possibility that Europe's poor   
    economic performance is the result of fiscal austerity.   
      
    At one level, of course, it's perfectly understandable. The OECD   
    in general, and Pier Carlo Padoan, in particular, as chief   
    economist, were among the biggest and earliest cheerleaders for   
    austerity; you can see why they don't want to admit that they   
    were in fact cheerleading Europe into disaster.   
      
    Still, it's kind of depressing. What we've just had in the   
    eurozone is as close to a natural experiment on fiscal policy as   
    you're ever likely to see, and the results overwhelmingly   
    support a Keynesian view. You might expect some acknowledgement,   
    some revision of views.   
      
    But that's not the way the world works. George Orwell knew all   
    about it:   
      
      The point is that we are all capable of believing things   
      which we know to be untrue, and then, when we are finally   
      proved wrong, impudently twisting the facts so as to show   
      that we were right. Intellectually, it is possible to   
      carry on this process for an indefinite time: the only   
      check on it is that sooner or later a false belief bumps   
      up against solid reality, usually on a battlefield … To   
      see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant   
      struggle.   
      
    And not many influential people are into that kind of struggle.   
      
   BOB KLAHN bob.klahn@sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn   
      
   ... Freedom's just another word for nothing left to eat.->Republican Version.   
   --- Via Silver Xpress V4.5/P [Reg]   
    * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 Join Us: www.DocsPlace.org (1:123/140)