Paul Krugman: Ending The Depression Is Simple—Except For The Politics

Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Paul Krugman has a simple answer for what's wrong with the economy. Never mind the arguments about structural economic problems that have disadvantaged the middle class and have put America at a global competitive disadvantage. "There is not enough demand in this economy," Krugman said at a talk at the Economic Policy Institute Wednesday.  "This is a problem that is not in fact hard to fix, if it were not for the politics and the intellectual confusion," he said. Read more here.

The 99 Percent Wakes Up

Joseph Stiglitz has a new book out that explores how inequality isn’t only plaguing America—the Arab Spring flowered because international capitalism is broken. In From Cairo to Wall Street: Voices from the Global Spring, edited by Anya Schiffrin and Eamon Kircher-Allen, Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz says the world is finally rising up and demanding a democracy where people, not dollars, matter—the best government that money can buy just isn’t good enough. There are times in history when people all over the world seem to rise up, to say that something is wrong and to ask for change. This was true of the tumultuous years of 1848 and 1968. It was certainly true in 2011. In many countries there was anger and unhappiness about joblessness, income distribution, and inequality and a feeling that the system is unfair and even broken. Read more at The Daily Beast. 

Race Tightens in Key Swing States

The new Quinnipiac polls find the presidential race is tighter in three important swing states.

Florida: Romney 44%, Obama 43%
Ohio: Obama 44%, Romney 42%
Pennsylvania: Obama 47%, Romney 39%.
Said pollster Peter Brown: "Gov. Mitt Romney has closed President Barack Obama's leads in Ohio and Florida to the point that those two states are now essentially tied, a turnaround from the end of March when the president enjoyed leads in those key states."