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Boiling the FrogBack to Article »

By PAUL KRUGMAN

It’s difficult to get people to do what it takes to head off a catastrophe foretold. And now, both the economic and the environmental frogs are sitting still while the water gets hotter.

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Nikos Mourkogiannis, Nikos@Nikos.com

London

July 13th, 2009

5:46 am

Getting all the action necessary to prevent a catastrophy foretold has always been the dream of all magicians talking about catastrophies. Paul Krugman`s frustrations keep him true to the role. In reality, however, collective action comes in stages. Thinking - what Mr Krugman and I do for a living- is only the first step. People have to be Inspired and Mobilised before they Execute a solution. The American people have not been inspired to want to be taxed for climate mitigation. The President therefore had to sign the energy bill that Congress sent him. As for the the jobless recovery, this is already the dominant political issue in the West. Unfortunately, the solutions that seem to inspire and mobilize many groups have one common denominator: protectionism. Suggesting solutions that are better would be an excellent use of time for all card carrying economists. I would be most interested to read any suggestions that Mr Krugman or others have for a stimulus package that would prevent 10% of unemployed Americans from becoming jobless.