Krugman: Forget Those 'Budget Things,' U.S. Gov't Needs to 'Just Spend & Do a Bunch Of Stuff

 New York Times Economist and Nobel peace prize winner Paul Krugman has some candid advice for the US government: forget budgets and start spending.

The alarming advice came while on a panel discussion in Washington, D.C. last month. The panel was entitled "End This Depression Now" and focused on the economic recourse the country had in the wake of current economic instability.

Krugman was asked what he would do "If we made Paul Krugman a dictator for a period of time?"  After applause from the audience Krugman noted that the "biggest" thing holding back the economy has been "unprecedented cutback in state and local spending."  Krugman, a committed Keynesian, argued for massive government hiring in the fields of construction and education.

This tactic, he said, would reduce unemployment to below 7% and would only cost "a few hundred billion a year," which the economist explained "is not that much."  But the real goal for Krugman is a 0% unemployment.  To achieve this employment utopia, we must encounter a catastrophe on par with WWII according to Krugman:

"What took us out of the Great Depression... it was Europe's entry into WWII and the US buildup that began in advance.  We were at full employment before Perl Harbor.  So if we can get something that will cause the government to say, 'Oh never mind those budget things, lets just spend and do a bunch of stuff."

 Watch the chilling advice below: