Brzezinski asks: "Is America the Bernie Madoff of all economies?”

Every time I try to watch this show getting ready for work, I find myself thoroughly disgusted with it's overall inanity and general lack of intellectual honesty.

Mika, god love her, completely misrepresented Krugman's article. It was actually quite funny to see her to cite Krugman in support of a claim by a conservative.

Here is Krugman's Madoff analogy:

"Indeed, these days America is looking like the Bernie Madoff of economies: for many years it was held in respect, even awe, but it turns out to have been a fraud all along."

This is not about stimuls or bailout but the decade of economic policies that has led us to this mess.

Where the panel praised Merkel and other Europeans against more stimulus aid, Krugman says they are completely wrong and laments the fact that we are no longer in the position to pursuade them that they too must act:

"Now, in fairness we have to say that the United States was far from being the only nation in which banks ran wild. Many European leaders are still in denial about the continent’s economic and financial troubles, which arguably run as deep as our own — although their nations’ much stronger social safety nets mean that we’re likely to experience far more human suffering. Still, it’s a fact that the crisis has cost America much of its credibility, and with it much of its ability to lead.

And that’s a very bad thing."

In the final analysis, shoudl we do more or less? In Krugman's view, we should do more:

"But these days foreign leaders are in no mood to be lectured by American officials, even when — as in this case — the Americans are right. "