What Paul Krugman thinks about America
Trade economist, Nobel laureate in 2008 for his work on economic geography, professor emeritus at Princeton and the CUNY Graduate Center, and a New York Times columnist from 1999 to 2024. Now writes on Substack.
Paul Krugman did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
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33 dated positions, 2025 to 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what Paul Krugman has said — not written or endorsed by them.
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Their wordsFirst, Trump and his inner circle don’t just love autocrats. They hate democracy and rule of law — which means that they hate America and American values.
- 6 days earlier
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Their wordsAbove all, he will retain immense capacity to inflict destruction on America, not to mention America’s allies.
- 2 days earlier
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Their wordsI might add that this is general issue with Trump: he often touts trivial policies as major achievement, and it often seems obvious that he has no idea how big America and the world are.
↗Arithmetic Suffers from Trump Derangement Syndromepaulkrugman.substack.com
- 7 days earlier
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Their wordsThe level of corruption that Trump has engaged in and enabled in others is completely unprecedented – self-dealing that, as Trump would say, is like nothing anybody has ever seen before.
↗The Trump Administration is a Cesspit of Corruptionpaulkrugman.substack.com
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Our readingDemocrats will have to prove they are immune to the influence of Big Money once in power.
Their wordsIn addition to battling Trump in his two remaining years of power, they will also have to prove to the American people that they will be immune to the inevitable attempts by Big Money to buy them off through campaign contributions and back-room deals.
↗The Trump Administration is a Cesspit of Corruptionpaulkrugman.substack.com
- 3 days earlier
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Their wordsBut it’s not just the polls. Even though the U.S. economy looks OK by some measures, the overall economic environment looks really bad for Trump and his party.
↗A “Who You Gonna Believe?” Electionpaulkrugman.substack.com
- 8 days earlier
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Our readingA diesel export ban would likely increase energy costs in some parts of the United States.
Their wordsBut in this case “the rest of the world” includes much of the United States. Both the Northeast and the West Coast buy much of their diesel (and heating oil, which is a closely related commodity) from other countries, so a ban on U.S. exports, by driving up world prices, would actually make energy more expensive in some parts of the country.
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Their wordsSo a diesel export ban would probably do little to assuage U.S. concerns about affordability. It would create uncertainty that deters business investment, in energy and other industries. And it would further weaken America’s hand in its geopolitical rivalry with China over energy.
- 1 day earlier
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Our readingAmerica's power is collapsing.
Their wordsI say “used to be” because America’s power is collapsing before our eyes — has clearly and undeniably lost his mind?
↗It’s “Underwear on the Outside” Timepaulkrugman.substack.com
- 3 days earlier
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Their wordsContrary to Trump administration expectations and predictions, there has been no revival of U.S. manufacturing employment, and investment in manufacturing — at least as measured by construction spending — has fallen off a cliff.
↗Why Does Everyone Hate Trump’s Tariffs?paulkrugman.substack.com
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Our readingThe Trump tariffs have not caused a global recession or a 1930s-style spiral into protectionism.
Their wordsHowever, the Trump tariffs haven’t caused a recession, either in the U.S. or globally. Nor have they led to a 1930s-style global spiral into protectionism: Retaliation by other nations against U.S. tariffs has been limited, and there has been hardly any sign of emulation — of other nations deciding to follow Trump’s lead by imposing their own high tariffs on trading partners.
↗Why Does Everyone Hate Trump’s Tariffs?paulkrugman.substack.com
- 1 day earlier
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Their wordsactually, there are three economic superpowers in the world by this measure. There’s the United States, there’s China, which is clearly number one, and then there’s the EU, which are roughly co-equal.
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Their wordsChina is not yet big enough to be the hegemon, but the United States truly is not big enough to be the hegemon. So we are just not in that world anymore.
- 1 day earlier
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Their wordsBut foreign leaders have more or less given up trying to placate Trump.
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Our readingTrump is globally hated but not feared, the opposite of where Machiavelli said a prince should be.
Their wordsGlobally, then, Trump is in exactly the opposite position of where Machiavelli said a prince should be: hated but not feared.
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Their wordsGlobally, the most obvious reason nations have stopped fearing Trump is the debacle in Iran.
- 3 days earlier
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Their wordsBut AI does seem to be transforming U.S. politics. I can’t think of a technology that has inspired so much hate across such a wide political spectrum.
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Our readingThe AI boom has become a huge political liability for Trump and clinging to it will not work
Their wordsBut of course it won’t work. The AI boom, once Trump’s last remaining political asset, is now a huge liability.
- 4 days earlier
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Our readingThe seeds of America’s current political condition were already planted well before 9/11.
Their wordsBut the truth is that the seeds of where we are now had already been planted well before 9/11.
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Their wordsthe truth is that while there are plenty of haters, overall we are a better, more tolerant society than we were in 2001.
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Our readingThe evil now running wild in America did not begin with Trump and has been building for decades.
Their wordsBut the evil now running wild in America didn’t begin when Trump descended that escalator. It has been building for decades.
- 2 days earlier
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Their wordsBut beyond the embarrassment, it’s also important to realize that an escalating trade war with Canada will do real damage to the U.S. economy.
↗Adding Injury to Insult, Canada Editionpaulkrugman.substack.com
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Our readingThe Canadian economy is not a miniature U.S. economy but specializes in a limited range of goods.
Their wordsThat is, the Canadian economy isn’t a miniature version of the U.S. economy, producing the same mix of stuff on a smaller scale. Instead, Canada concentrates on producing a limited range of goods.
↗Adding Injury to Insult, Canada Editionpaulkrugman.substack.com
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Their wordsYes — but it would be expensive and take a great deal of time. In short, if Trump, Bessent and company think that trade conflict with Canada is a trivial issue, one that Americans will barely notice, they’re in for a rude awakening.
↗Adding Injury to Insult, Canada Editionpaulkrugman.substack.com
- 1 day earlier
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Their wordsIt’s an administration that’s trying to turn us back to the 19th century or before. It’s really just trying to undo even the most essential functions of government.
- 1 day earlier
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Their wordsCrude economic factors don’t explain the fascist shift in Germany. And Trumponomics, even if it worked (which it doesn’t) wouldn’t end the resentment feeding our own authoritarian movement.
↗Neo-Nazis and the Impotence of Trumponomicspaulkrugman.substack.com
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Their wordsAmerica’s large trade deficit in manufactured goods does mean that we have fewer manufacturing jobs than we would if that trade were balanced.
↗Neo-Nazis and the Impotence of Trumponomicspaulkrugman.substack.com
- 4 months earlier
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Their wordsMoreover, by many measures — arguably the most important measures — Europe is, in fact, keeping up with the United States.
↗Is Europe in Economic Decline?paulkrugman.substack.com 1st of 2 in this piece
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Their wordsEurope, along with China and the United States, is an economic superpower. And, at this point in time, it is arguably the world’s only democratic superpower.
↗Is Europe in Economic Decline?paulkrugman.substack.com 2nd of 2 in this piece
- 2 months earlier
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Their wordsIn fact, the U.S. trade deficit for all of 2025 was about the same as it was in 2024.
↗Attack of the Zombie Tariffspaulkrugman.substack.com 1st of 4 in this piece
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Our readingThe tariffs did not revive American manufacturing; employment in it fell after they were imposed.
Their wordsTrump also claimed that his tariffs would revive American manufacturing. In fact, manufacturing employment has declined since Liberation Day.
↗Attack of the Zombie Tariffspaulkrugman.substack.com 2nd of 4 in this piece
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Their wordsRevenue from the Trump tariffs, even pre-Court, wasn’t enough to make a large dent in the deficit.
↗Attack of the Zombie Tariffspaulkrugman.substack.com 3rd of 4 in this piece
- 4 months earlier
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Their wordsBut politics aside, what’s notable about that 2001 report, put together by men who regarded themselves as hard-headed realists, is that it envisaged an energy future reliant almost entirely on fossil fuels plus a bit of nuclear energy.
↗The Rise of Renewable Energypaulkrugman.substack.com 1st of 2 in this piece