The Nobel Prize: Way Deadlier, More Damaging and Evil Than Dynamite
The Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel famously created his various prizes (Peace; Literature, etc) in a fit of a remorse at having invented dynamite. But from our precarious position at the beginning of the 21st Century, I think it's now pretty clear to most of us which of his inventions has done the most damage. And it certainly ain't those innocent explosives.
I'm thinking in particular of Paul Krugman.
Sure there are plenty of other bad examples: the award of the Nobel Peace prize to terrorist Yasser Arafat; to Al Gore (for what? services to rent-seeking and junk science?); and, of course, the recent one to that famous seller-out of American values to the forces of global despotism, Barack Obama. But I don't think any of these disastrous choices comes even close to matching the harm done by the decision to award (in 2008) the Economics prize to a shameless Neo-Keynesian like Krugman.
Keynesian economic theory was tested to destruction in the 1930s when - thanks, FDR! - it helped to prolong the Great Depression. Experimenting with it again - as the Obama administration is doing with its successive rounds of Quantitative Easing - reminds me of an old joke about an Irish gambler. The one who lost £50 betting on the actual horse race; then another £100 betting on the action replay.
Were any of you as terrified as I was the other day when Obama dared Republicans to join him in supporting his latest $400 billion plus Stimulus 2.0 package? Isn't this a bit like being dared by Beavis & Butthead to stick a firework up your own fundament and light the taper because "Hey, the effects could be really cool!"? Isn't it also a bit final-scene-of-Downfall? The deranged Fuhrer in his bunker, plotting his Gotterdammerung with divisions that no longer even exist....
Obviously, I can't be certain none of this would have happened if Krugman had been denied his Nobel Prize. But at least without it, he would simply have been the guy with the beard in the New York Times whose writings you can safely ignore because he's always totally wrong about everything. Whereas with it, he's Paul Krugman, Nobel-Prize-winning guru, explaining again and again to the many gullible fools who take the Nobel seriously as a badge of expertise and authority why actually it makes perfect sense to take wheelbarrow loads of borrowed dollars and tip them into a huge black hole.
"In the long run we're all dead," said Keynes, explaining why it was perfectly OK for an economy to run up massive debts - because they could always be deferred to the next generation.
That was the theory. But here's the reality: Keynes is dead; but we're still around, living the nightmare that he helped create. With a little help of course from Alfred Nobel, Barack Obama and Paul Krugman.
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Nov '10
Re: The Nobel Prize: Way Deadlier, More Damaging and Evil Than Dynamite
Hi James,
Hayek won the Nobel Prize in economics in 1974, and Friedman in 1976. So, maybe your thesis merits qualification. After all, a Hayek-Friedman pair trumps a lone Krugman.
P.S. Watermelons was wonderful. You are a master of extemporized indignation. I found reading it positively therapeutic.
Aodhan
May '11
Re: The Nobel Prize: Way Deadlier, More Damaging and Evil Than Dynamite
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics not actually one of the original Nobel Prizes established by Alfred Nobel's will? I thought it was a separate, later award that simply 'piggybacked' on the brand to give that little extra kudos to winners (not that past hilarious awardings of the Peace Prize have done much for the original name's prestige anyway).
Oh, and great to see James Delingpole on Ricochet at last. I look forward to reading more.
Edited on September 11, 2011 at 1:55pmJul '11
Re: The Nobel Prize: Way Deadlier, More Damaging and Evil Than Dynamite
Especially timely post as we head into "Nobel season". There's a strong case for your general idea about the overall impact of the Prizes themselves - while they were supposed to reward outstanding work, they have instead given a nearly impenetrable patina of approval for bad ideas (Krugman's, Gore's) and bad actions (Arafat's). Of course this is really the fault of those who argue points by appealing to authority, but since that includes so much of the press and our chattering class, these prizes end up determining who's got "authoritah". One problem is that, while good ideas usually earn rewards regardless of the Prize, bad ideas are rewarded simply because they have been given it; thus, from a global perspective, the potential downside for these Prizes would seem to outweigh their benefits . Even in the sciences, the value of the Prize is questionable. They are based on at least as much politics as substance and the cases of contributors to Prize-winning being unfairly overlooked are too numerous to mention.
No, this experiment in rewarding great work seems to be a classic case of "The road to hell is paved with good intentions".
May '10
Re: The Nobel Prize: Way Deadlier, More Damaging and Evil Than Dynamite
The Nobel Prize is only worth the credibility people attach to it. And a million ducats. Like the UN, people look to it to confer authoritah, and lend weight at reasonable rates. Look behind the uninspired soulless glass and steel euro-facades of these institutions, and you find it's just a gaggle of small and narrow men. But in sticking it to the US, it makes lesser countries feel like they have a voice, and so maintains its cachet.
You are absolutely correct that the Nobel Committee's greatest crime was awarding a prize to Paul Krugman. Because it inspired him to write about the moment he heard about it. He was stark naked dripping from the shower when the call came, as he delightfully relates.
The trauma of reading about wet, furry nude Krugman has caused psychosomatic blindness, mild dysentery and strangest of all, chlamydia (I was blacked out for days; who knows what happened). I have to collect disability benefits now, contributing to the bankruptcy of the nation.
Sep '10
Re: The Nobel Prize: Way Deadlier, More Damaging and Evil Than Dynamite
James Delingpole, Guest Contributor:
That was the theory. But here's the reality: Keynes is dead; but we're still around, living the nightmare that he helped create. With a little help of course from Alfred Nobel, Barack Obama and Paul Krugman. ·
Keynes may have provided a peg for big government spenders like Dodd and Frank to hang their coats on, but the lack of this peg did not seem to slow other big government spenders such as GWB down. I am not a supporter of Keynes, but there are as many flawed economic theories as there are economists. Most of the people that caused our problems did not use Keynes to justify their actions many others did. That does not mean the ones who used him were influenced by his work, but merely found it convenient to use it to justify what they were doing. Their actions had much more to do with gaining and maintaining power than any economic theory.
Re: The Nobel Prize: Way Deadlier, More Damaging and Evil Than Dynamite
Thanks for the warm welcome, chaps. May I say what an utter delight it is to write for a troll-free site. Such a superior class of conversation.
Kennedy: was it really fair, on a Sunday, a family day, when furthermore we're all a bit traumatised by memories of 9/11, to introduce the idea of "wet, furry nude Krugman" emerging from the shower, like some nightmare reversal of Aphrodite emerging from the water on her cockle shell?
Aren't we suffering ENOUGH ALREADY?
Nov '10
Re: The Nobel Prize: Way Deadlier, More Damaging and Evil Than Dynamite
Welcome Mr. Delingpole. I often read your columns and am glad to see you here at Ricochet. Awarding the economics Nobel to Krugman and the peace Nobel to characters like Obama, Gore, and Arafat likely says more about what reactionary, unconstrained visionary leftists the Nobel committees have become than it does about Alfred Nobel's intent upon establishing the prizes (and yes, the economics prize was established later). We also have the evidence that the committee who award the economics prize have yet to award one to Hernando DeSoto ostensibly because he doesn't have a PhD. Never mind that his efforts are helping many people get registered deed to their land and, in turn, access to capital to make that land more productively create wealth. This is a tremendous service to humanity (I believe one of the criteria for the prizes) because it is helping people use their own industry to lift themselves out of abject poverty. The committee could help salvage some sense of propriety if it were to award a prize to Mr. DeSoto. Of course, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. Again, very good to see you here, sir.
Jun '11
Re: The Nobel Prize: Way Deadlier, More Damaging and Evil Than Dynamite
Weren't the Carter, Gore, Krugman, and Obama prizes just a way of rewarding those who opposed and openly criticized George Bush? It is less likely that these people would have won if the selection committee had not despised Bush. Having the opportunity to and actually ordering the killing (or capture) of Osama Bin Laden should qualify for the Peace Prize, but one wonders whether the committee will now reconsider the award to Obama.
On a separate note, I believe William Buckley suggested that the Peace Prize should be awarded every year to the US military.
May '10
Re: The Nobel Prize: Way Deadlier, More Damaging and Evil Than Dynamite
The orgy scene from The Downfall also comes to mind. Not in reference to Krugman, but to our governing elites, partying like there's no tomorrow. The difference being in their case they (unlike our governing elites) understood the collapse was immenent.
Nov '10
Re: The Nobel Prize: Way Deadlier, More Damaging and Evil Than Dynamite
A devoted disciple of Keynes
Paul Krugman's got oodles of brains.
They serve him real well
('longside his Nobel)
To chide the poor rubes he disdains.
----------------------------------------------
"Prosperity comes when we spend!"
--That's where all his arguments tend.
So complex, so subtle,
immune from rebuttal.
--On abstruse humbug they depend.
----------------------------------------------
But look, Paul: we're drowning in debt!
(Have you perchance noticed this yet?)
It's increasingly clear
The long-run is here
--An outcome you helped to abet.
----------------------------------------------
Alas, the old virtue of thrift
Edited on September 11, 2011 at 3:08pm(The one to which you gave short shrift)
Might have sustained us
(Though it would have pained us)
--Instead, towards the cliff-edge we drift...
Nov '10
Re: The Nobel Prize: Way Deadlier, More Damaging and Evil Than Dynamite
On the contrary, it's precisely the sort of stimulus I was looking for to jump-start my day.
James Delingpole, Guest Contributor: Thanks for the warm welcome, chaps. May I say what an utter delight it is to write for a troll-free site. Such a superior class of conversation.
Kennedy: was it really fair, on a Sunday, a family day, when furthermore we're all a bit traumatised by memories of 9/11, to introduce the idea of "wet, furry nude Krugman" emerging from the shower, like some nightmare reversal of Aphrodite emerging from the water on her cockle shell?
Aren't we suffering ENOUGH ALREADY? · Sep 11 at 5:37am
Feb '11
Re: The Nobel Prize: Way Deadlier, More Damaging and Evil Than Dynamite
Why blame what Obama is doing on Paul Krugman? Politicians of all stripes want to create huge piles of money that their political friends can fight over requiring huge lobbying efforts to get the money, make promises they can't possibly keep, and have a certain percentage of that money flow back into their own campaign coffers. As long as politicians can spend other people's money without any real accountability, it will ever be thus. And I don't for a moment think there is any solution either. Rent-seeking leaches are simply part of the biota whether it is the Queen with her Archimedes screw as you wrote about today or our humble servants.
May '10
Re: The Nobel Prize: Way Deadlier, More Damaging and Evil Than Dynamite
For those who may have missed this morning's link on Drudge, the wet, furry, naked creature and his imaginary, rabbit hole inspired world is at it again: Krugman's accusations
Edited on September 11, 2011 at 6:51pmDec '10
Re: The Nobel Prize: Way Deadlier, More Damaging and Evil Than Dynamite
"In the long run we're all dead," said Keynes,
And this is why the stimulus failed. Failed.
You see, Keynesianism works right now or not at all. That's the point. If it takes time to work, it's pointless.
Sep '10
Re: The Nobel Prize: Way Deadlier, More Damaging and Evil Than Dynamite
James, you forgot to mention the IPCC as one of the recipients. Fortunately, the truth will out, as the Climategate emails showed, brought to light in no small measure by your efforts.
On the other hand, Norman Borlaug won the Nobel Peace Prize. I'd say that cancels out thousands of IPCCs, Al Gores, Paul Krugmans, and one incredible shrinking president. I can hope people have a clear-eyed view of what the Prizes mean, especially the ones in the fuzzier areas like peace, economics, and literature. It's a mixed bag, at best.
Glad to see you here at Ricochet, James. I always read your column in the Telegraph. Keep it up; I'm counting on you.
Dec '10
Re: The Nobel Prize: Way Deadlier, More Damaging and Evil Than Dynamite
James, welcome to Ricochet. I hope the Code of Conduct will not crimp your style unduly.
Re: The Nobel Prize: Way Deadlier, More Damaging and Evil Than Dynamite
Stuart, you're not telling me it includes the rule "Prisoners Must Be Taken", I hope?
Jan '11
Re: The Nobel Prize: Way Deadlier, More Damaging and Evil Than Dynamite
I just listened to the podcast, James, and I've added "Watermelons" to my book list.
Too bad you couldn't stay on longer. Fifteen minutes after you left, Peter Robinson asked Dr. Glenn Hubbard, the eminent economist, how Americans could choose between Hubbard's credentialed theories for addressing the recession and the equally credentialed theories of Paul Krugman and his ilk.
Your post above gave the same answer that I was shouting at my Ipod - Because Krugman's theories have been tried and they've failed every time! I wish you had still been present to bring that simple bit of enlightenment to Hubbard and Robinson.
It would have been as refreshing as the rest of your appearance.
Mar '11
Re: The Nobel Prize: Way Deadlier, More Damaging and Evil Than Dynamite
Mr Delingpole, may I add my welcome to Ricochet? I am an English ex-pat, now American, and can confirm your rather pessimistic take on the Sceptered Isle, expressed so well in the latest Podcast. It's very painful to watch America go down the same path, in spite of your warnings, but a glimmer of hope lies in the Tea Party, for which there is sadly no equivalent in the UK.
Your piece is very timely, as Dr Krugman has disgraced himself even more than usual on this anniversary of 9/11. Sadly, he is but one voice in the cacophony of the American Left.
Anyway, I always enjoy your blogs at the Telegraph, especially on the topic of Gore-made climate change, and look forward to your contributions here in the walled garden of Ricochet.
Sep '10
Re: The Nobel Prize: Way Deadlier, More Damaging and Evil Than Dynamite
Mr. Delingpole,
Welcome and may I say: what a pleasant surprise. I believe this is the first time Beavis and Butthead has been used to buttress a philosophical point on Ricochet. In this case, I think its particularly apropos.
Edited on September 12, 2011 at 12:33am