Whats Happening to Our Economy Is Like a Natural Disaster

Published: Jan. 29, 2021, 10 a.m.

b'The Biden administration\\u2019s first legislative priority is a $1.9 trillion economic rescue package. It\\u2019s the kind of mega-package where the individual policies contained inside it \\u2014 a $15 minimum wage, $1,400 checks, a huge child tax credit expansion, a $50 billion virus testing infrastructure \\u2014 would be big deals on their own. But together, this would be one of the most consequential packages ever passed.\\n\\nSo there\\u2019s a lot to talk about here. And who better to talk about it with than my now-colleague Paul Krugman? We dig into the details of the plan and then spiral off into some other topics I wanted to run by the nearest Nobel laureate: the major rethinking of debt and deficits among left-of-center economists, the differences between Keynesians and Modern Monetary Theorists, how Krugman made a bunch of money off Bitcoin (it\\u2019s not how you\\u2019d think!), why progressives need a better theory of technological change, Krugman\\u2019s favorite indie bands of the mid-2000s, and more.\\n\\nMentioned in this episode: \\n\\n\\u201cNotes on the Coronacoma (Wonkish)\\u201d by Paul Krugman\\n\\n\\u201cWhy Markets Boomed in a Year of Human Misery\\u201d by Neil Irwin and Weiyi Cai\\n\\n\\u201cWho\\u2019s Afraid of Budget Deficits?\\u201d By Jason Furman and Lawrence Summers\\n\\n\\u201cPublic Debt: Fiscal and Welfare Costs in a Time of Low Interest Rates\\u201d by Olivier Blanchard\\n\\n\\u201cAmerica\\u2019s anti-democratic Senate, in one number\\u201d by Ian Millhiser\\n\\nBook Recommendations: \\n\\n\\u201cLaundry Files\\u201d series by Charlie Stross\\n\\n\\u201cMerchant Princes\\u201d series by Charlie Stross\\n\\n\\u201cThe Price of Peace\\u201d by Zachary Carter\\n\\nBand Recommendations: \\n\\nThe Be Good Tanyas\\n\\nLarkin Poe\\n\\nReina del Cid\\n\\nYou can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of "The Ezra Klein Show" at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein.\\n\\nThoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.\\n\\n\\u201cThe Ezra Klein Show\\u201d is produced by Rog\\xe9 Karma and Jeff Geld; fact-checking by Michelle Harris; original music by Isaac Jones; mixing by Jeff Geld.'