“So one way to see the drive for austerity is as an application of a sort of reverse Hippocratic oath: ‘First, do nothing to mitigate harm’.”

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/16/the-smithkleinkalecki-theory-of-austerity/

No pain (for you), no gain (for us).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/19/kaitlyn-hunt-florida-teen-felony-same-sex_n_3302713.html

A Florida teenager faces criminal charges stemming from her relationship with another young female student. Kaitlyn Hunt, 18, faces two felony counts of “lewd and lascivious battery on a child 12 to 16″ after the parents of her 15-year-old girlfriend pressed charges earlier this year, according to E…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/17/harry-reid-nuclear-option_n_3293865.html

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has told top advisers that he is prepared to take action if Senate Republicans block three upcoming nominations, the Washington Post reported on Friday. Reid is reportedly focusing on the month of July to approach filibuster reform and possibly execute the…

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/14/abercrombie-and-fitch-homeless-brand-readjustment_n_3272498.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=4856925,b=facebook

In response to Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries not wanting “not so cool” kids or women who wear size large to wear his company’s clothes, Greg Karber has come up with a funny and creative way to readjust the Abercrombie & Fitch brand.

Or maybe not even that.”

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/about-that-debt-crisis-never-mind/

Message to the unemployed: “Oopsies!”

“Deputy Attorney General Lanny Breuer, who was charged with investigating Wall Street crimes and whose inaction became a national disgrace, has already cashed in with a specially-created senior position at Wall Street defense firm Covington & Burling…which happens to be the firm that employed Eric Holder when he defended Wall Street bankers.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/holder-says-leak-required_b_3276450.html

Apparently leaks which keep the public informed require “very aggressive action” — but crimes which shatter the economy, leaving millions without homes and millions more without jobs aren’t worth lifting a finger to investigate.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/14/twin-primes-conjecture-weak-yitang-zhang_n_3271650.html

By Maggie McKeeIt’s a result only a mathematician could love. Researchers hoping to get ‘2’ as the answer for a long-sought proof involving pairs of prime numbers are celebrating the fact that a mathematician has wrestled the value down from infinity to 70 million. “That’s only [a factor of] 35 mill…

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/12/nevillenomics/

Shades of modern Japan in 1930s Britain.

“instead of saying that maybe this macro IS-LM stuff has a point, they’re raging against the man with the beard.”

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/11/harpooning-ben-bernanke/

White whales of finance.

“The wonkosphere was a much better,much more reliable source of knowledge than the proper academic literature.”

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/11/in-praise-of-econowonkery/

We’re living in a golden age.