Paul Krugman is a putz, and other harsh truths of life in a down economy.

Although…I guess Krugman’s putz-ness is a harsh truth no matter what the economy is doing.

First, though, this news story via Memeorandum, by NY Times reporter Liz Alderman:

As Europe’s major economies focus on belt-tightening, they are following the path of Ireland. But the once thriving nation is struggling, with no sign of a rapid turnaround in sight.

Nearly two years ago, an economic collapse forced Ireland to cut public spending and raise taxes…

That’s the same “economic collapse” that “forced” other countries, like the U.S., to dramatically increase spending and debt?

…the type of austerity measures that financial markets are now pressing on most advanced industrial nations.

For the first time in human history, frugality is a vice.

Rather than being rewarded for its actions, though, Ireland is being penalized. Its downturn has certainly been sharper than if the government had spent more to keep people working.

Wow, the NY Times has reporters who can see what would have happened if we’d done something other than what we did.

I wonder why she hasn’t retired on her gambling winnings yet?

Lacking stimulus money, the Irish economy shrank 7.1 percent last year and remains in recession.

Joblessness in this country of 4.5 million is above 13 percent, and the ranks of the long-term unemployed — those out of work for a year or more — have more than doubled, to 5.3 percent.

Granted, those numbers are worse than the U.S. numbers. Unemployment here in May was 9.3%, and nearly a third of those have been unemployed a year or more.

Wow, I guess all those trillions of dollars of debt really did help our economy!

Just guessing, here, but: Ireland’s economy is smaller than ours, probably less diverse, certainly more dependent on the rest of the world. The rest of the world is in recession, so… Ireland being in recession is proof that their fiscally conservative policies are to blame?

Paul Krugman, the Nobel prize-winning economist, seems to believe so:

That’s why the Irish debacle is so important. All that savage austerity was supposed to bring rewards; the conventional wisdom that this would happen is so strong that one often reads news reports claiming that it has, in fact, happened, that Ireland’s resolve has impressed and reassured the financial markets. But the reality is that nothing of the sort has taken place: virtuous, suffering Ireland is gaining nothing.

Uh-huh. And…sinful, gluttonous America? Soft, indulgent Greece? We’re gaining what, exactly?

We’ve already spent billions – over a trillion, even – doing what Krugman wants us to do, and we’re still in recession. Not enough, he says. Spend more!

And about Ireland, he says:

Of course, I know what will happen next: we’ll hear that the Irish just aren’t doing enough, and must do more. If we’ve been bleeding the patient, and he has nonetheless gotten sicker, well, we clearly need to bleed him some more.

Does he sense the irony? Does he even notice it?

Fact is, if we hadn’t passed TARP and the “stimulus,” we’d be in a recession today. We did pass TARP and the “stimulus,” and we’re in a recession today. Ireland would be in a recession today, even if they’d spent with Krugmanian abandon.

We can’t go back to see what would have happened, had we followed a different path.

But with a commitment to economic freedom, a nation like Ireland will be far better able to take advantage of whatever recovery comes their way, when it comes their way.