NYT’s Krugman: ‘I Was Wrong About Inflation’ — There Was Stuff ‘that Nobody Saw Coming’

Thursday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman discussed his NYT op-ed about how he was “wrong” about inflation.

Krugman explained that there was stuff “that nobody saw coming,” such as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and supply chain issues.

“On inflation, Paul says he was wrong about the issue,” host Mika Brzezinski said in introducing Krugman. “Paul, let’s start with that. Welcome back to the show. Tell us about your piece and … what did you think you got wrong?”

“Well, partly it’s that there is stuff that … that nobody saw coming,” Krugman replied. “Nobody saw Putin invading Ukraine. I think nobody really thought about logistic supply chains or any of that stuff until suddenly it became a big problem.”

“But part of it is that we did, in fact, end up with what is clearly an overheated economy,” he continued. “And the effect of that overheating on inflation was bigger than this past experience would have led us to believe. So, it is always dangerous to extrapolate from the past, and in this case … I thought it was possible that we offer heat; I didn’t think given the historical relationship that it would lead to this much inflation.”

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