Poor Paul Ryan

Quote of the day: 

Remember, as far as the political world is concerned, Paul Ryan is the best Republicans have to offer. He’s not some random back-bencher; he’s the GOP’s go-to guy on fiscal issues.

And yet, Ryan’s agenda is basically an arithmetic-challenged fraud, and he apparently has no idea what the “the drivers of our debt” are.

 Read Steve Benen's piece on the latest fantastical assertions from Mr. Ryan HERE.

The best economists money can buy

Illustration from Paul Krugman's "How Did Economists Get It So Wrong?"

According to Nancy Folbre, an economics professor at U Mass-Amherst writing for The New York Times "Economix" blog, her profession is being gamed by right-wing money men who are buying influence within universities to validate their political agenda:

If you don’t like what economics professors like me are saying, go hire your own. Of course, if they’re on your payroll, no one will be surprised if they agree with you, so it’s best to hire them indirectly, through a tied donation to a university.

Frustrated that so few students are reading your favorite book about the virtues of free enterprise? Offer highly respected universities money to make it required reading.
As Catherine Rampell pointed out in Economix last week, conservative foundations founded by Charles Koch and John Allison have actively pursued such strategies.