Seeking Alpha Macro, economy, long only Profile| Send Message| (
followers)    If you're looking for fresh insight into the
dysfunctional thinking that impairs policy debates in the U.S.,
which in turns gums up the machine for doing the right thing on
the federal budget in a timely manner, read Paul Krugman's
column from late last week. The title says it all: Let’s Not
Make a Deal.  I'm shocked, frankly, that one of the most
influential economists on the macro scene—and a Nobel-prize
winner at that—is recommending that the President of the United
States put politics over policy at a vulnerable moment with the
economy hanging in the balance. Krugman's advice for Obama comes
down to this:    It's no secret that Krugman is, well, shall we
say, a Democratic partisan in the extreme. I say "extreme" in
the sense that the Princeton professor isn't shy about mixing
his political views with his policy recommendations, as his
latest column makes clear in no uncertain terms. That's fine,
and everyone's entitled to their