So I asked Paul Krugman a question today when he appeared on the site, reddit. Not only did he reply with a great answer, here: IamA Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist. : IAmA, but he followed up with an excellent post on his blog, here: Diocletianomics – NYTimes.com.
Paul Krugman and I have a few things in common: we both like economics, blogging, Isaac Asimov’s Foundation novels, and posting about indie bands (him: Friday Night Music: Civil Wars, me:Great Friday night music: Never Forget You by the Noisettes). Politically we are similar too. I am a fan of his writing and thinking. Alas, I do not have a Nobel Prize.
When I saw he was going to be on reddit, I actually signed up for it just to ask the question. The question may seem bizarre out of context, but it is really a mashup of serious things he’s been discussing (the FED and it’s role, the problem posed by the zero lower bound) and the not so serious (the emperor Diocletian came up in the context of a debate he had with Ron Paul; more on that here: Don’t Know Much About (Ancient) History).
I thought mashing that up would not only appeal to the tastes of reddit readers, but to Paul Krugman and his good sense of humour. I was right!
What is the question, you ask? It was this: What is the FED doing to help the Emperor Diocletian escape the zero lower bound?
It’s a good question, I thought. One that might come from a character in a Lewis Carroll book, one that gets you thinking despite the absurdity of it. In some ways, Ron Paul could be a character in a Lewis Carroll book. But I will leave that for another blog post.
Smart People I Know 