General Discussion

First, a few facts.

1. There is no standard definition of an economic depression. You can have positive GDP growth in a depression. I showed you that.

2. Krugman isn't saying the economy is in a recession by textbook definitions right now. (And he knows what these terms mean. )

3. It is very possible for the economy to go through expansionary periods within the context of an overall depression. Only history will tell us whether that is true of the current economy or not, but it is by no means "idiotic" or indicative of a "hack" to think this might be the case.

4. No one is saying this is as bad as the Great Depression. The term "lesser depression" is the one I see most often. Krugman is not the originator of this term and is far from being the only economist using it.

So, again, I ask you, "Whose view of the economy has been more accurate than Krugman's?" Do you like Brad DeLong, Christy Roemer, or Mark Thoma? Most of those are in agreement with Paul. Are you more of a conservative? Do you like Mankiw ond Orzag? Or perhaps you're one of the Gold Bug Paulites? Are you an Austrian?

I just really want to know where you're coming from, and if there is any substance there. Is it just that you're just obsessivly caught up on the semantics of a textbook definition of recession, or perhaps you're just mad at Krugman because he said something *mean* about a politician you like. Either way, I'm curious.