Paul Krugman, the Nobel prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist, has figured out that the doom and gloom over rampant violence and lawlessness in the largest US city is unfounded hysteria over a "nonexistent crisis."
All he needed to find the truth of the matter and prove the alarmists wrong was to go for a jog in the city Wednesday morning. "Am sorry to report that I saw very few black-clad anarchists," Krugman tweeted after his run. "Also, the city is not yet in flames."
Based on that conclusion, Krugman speculated on whether President Donald Trump could win over voters by "hammering on a nonexistent crisis of order in America's cities." He added, "You would think not, but I'm not 100 percent confident." He capped a long string of tweets by saying it's "important to realize that claims of urban anarchy are almost entirely fantasy."
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Never mind that murders in New York City are up 35 percent from 2019's pace from January through August 23, according to police data. Shootings are up even more dramatically, rising 82 percent year to date and more than doubling the year-earlier rate since June.
Never mind that thousands of wealthy New Yorkers are fleeing the city, leaving a record high of more than 13,000 apartments vacant in Manhattan. Many are moving out of the region altogether or heading for the suburbs. July home sales in the suburbs around New York City surged 44 percent on year, while plunging 56 percent in Manhattan.
The New York Times last week explained away the exodus as stemming almost entirely from fears of living in dense urban areas amid the Covid-19 pandemic — and while some certainly are leaving on coronavirus anxiety — that is not the whole story. The article admits in the 12th paragraph that some home buyers are concerned about "reports of rising crime."
Radio host Buck Sexton said Krugman's assertion was part of a "new lib journo game of 'I went outside in daylight in a nice neighborhood and the city wasn't on fire, so haha Trumpers.'"
Journalist John Daniel Davidson of the Federalist compared Krugman's analysis to CNN's Jim Acosta visiting the US-Mexico border, looking at the vast scrubland around him and, "seeing no smugglers or migrants in the bushes, declared there was no border crisis."
Other Twitter users mocked Krugman, suggesting that he make the same run at night and that he should get the Nobel prize in the category of "I didn't experience it, ergo it doesn't exist." Chloe Valdary, a writer and diversity trainer, tweeted: "NYC just surpassed 1,000 shootings pre-Labor Day, Paul. We don't have to exaggerate our problems, but neither do we need to downplay them."
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