Facts are stupid things

Facts are stupid things

by digby

Following up on my post yesterday about Paul Ryan’s “genuineness” despite his ability to lie with virtually every other breath, Krugman discusses another “Austerian”, the European editor of The Economist, who said this in an interview:

And of the countries that were in trouble, I would say Ireland looks as if it’s the best at the moment because Ireland has implemented very heavy austerity programs, but is now beginning to grow again.

Krugman posts this and quips, “see the return to growth, there at the end? Me neither.”

He writes:

To be fair, Peet isn’t alone. The legend of Irish recovery has somehow set in, and nobody on the pro-austerity side seems to feel any need to look at the data, even for a minute, to check whether the legend is true.

Since virtually every VSP is on the pro-austerity side, why bother? As St Ronnie said, “facts are stupid things.” They can say anything they want.

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