On economists who know nothing of history

Krugman blogs:

. . . economists, who should be helping introduce some clarity, are on the whole making things murkier. I had thought that the lessons of the Depression would help guide us through this crisis; but it turns out that a large part of the profession knows nothing about those lessons, and is peddling fallacies exploded three generations ago as if they were profound new insights.

So yes, we can have another depression — because those who refuse to learn from history may be condemned to repeat it.

Krugman's blog makes for sobering reading these days. If Krugman is correct, Obama's first stimulus plan -- assuming it even passes -- will fall entirely short of what would be required to set the US economy on course to recovery. The prospect of a global depression looms larger every day.