A sadly ill-timed book release

[cthulu2016]

Paul Krugman's new book End this Depression Now! will be released April 30.



http://www.amazon.com/End-This-Depression-Paul-Krugman/dp/0393088774

Releasing this book in the teeth of a presidential campaign will play out in sadly illustrative fashion.

The book will, in fact, detail how to end this depression now. Exclamation point. And it will be ignored. (Actually, worse than ignored. It may well prompt campaign season dismissal of any dramatic proposals—locking in opposition.)

It will not change any Democratic policy. It will not change any Republican policy. It will not change any person's vote. There will be some modest criticisms of the last three years of policy from the left that will doubtless be trumpeted by some Republican stooges as evidence of the need for a change. There will be stunning, staggering, eviscerating criticisms of the Republicans and everything their candidate has and will propose as tantamount to national suicide. Those criticisms will be ignored because Krugman is a "partisan."

The sad and savage irony is that in today's political reality the worst time to release a book on policy is during an election.

Back in the day this would be a release that could actually change some attitudes. There was once a middle-brow public intelligensia that read serious but breezy and accessible books, as Krugman's promises to be. People would read such a book and say things like, "Y'know, this makes a persuasive case for Stevensonomics... Eisenhower got us out of Korea but maybe we need a change."

But today? A book like this will, in the hyper-partisan context of its release, be dismissed by all sides. Obama is not going to read some book and suddenly decide to radicalize his economic message in the middle of a campaign, nor should he. And god knows the Republicans will not find it persuasive.

If I were Krugman I would have timed the release for November 2012 and hoped for an Obama win. That would probably be the circumstance of maximum potential influence... when Obama would be at the height of his power and most open to change.

[russspeakeasy]

1. Krugman's publisher gave him some really bad advice.

[cthulu2016]

2. I did not get into sales, of course.

The book may well be more popular in the context of a campaign, and I do not begrudge anyone a bestseller. But in the context of a campaign the people who will buy it and be persuaded by it are all already voting Obama.

[tblue]

3. I don't think Krugman is as concerned about the politics

as he is about getting policy right.

Can't read his mind, but I believe he's a straight shooter and just calls it as he sees it. He probably wanted to get his message out as soon as possible, and not trying to harm President Obama's reelection.

[russspeakeasy]

4. Good point.