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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.