Kann Mark Carney das Leben erschwinglicher machen? Paul Krugman warnt die Wähler davor, auf mutige Preissenkungsversprechen hereinzufallen

The only way life becomes more affordable is if we are more productive. Carney seems to be generally focused on improving productivity, but there is no magic pill. Plus there is no way a minority government in its first year is able to fix some long term issues that is dragging our productivity down like our retirement spending.

This is so stupid. The headline implies that Krugman thinks Carney won’t be able to make life more affordable, but that’s not at all what Krugman is saying. Krugman’s point is that people shouldn’t expect prices to go down, but that’s completely consistent with life becoming more affordable. For life to become more affordable, wages just need to increase enough to wipe out the effects of inflation on purchasing power. The fact that filling up your car doesn’t cost a nickel or whatever it did in the 1910s isn’t a problem for us, because people also make more money now than they did in the 1910s. Is it too much to ask for economic journalism that doesn’t mislead people?