Paul Krugman

Paul Krugman, columnist for the New York Times and author, came to speak at UT. The room was packed in the UTC and people sat in the aisle and against the walls. I had never heard of him before, but he has a new book out called Conscience of a Liberal (pictured below). He was a very upbeat speaker, who joked cleverly about current and past events and politics. He addressed health care, foreign affairs, and economics. Obviously he's liberal, but I didn't appreciate how he talked like everyone knew what he was talking about and/or agreed.

He discussed his hopes for the next presidential election, nostalgia for past democrat leaders, as well as criticism for current republican ones. He didn't persuade me to his way of thinking, but I liked hearing his views. In his questions and answers at the end one student asked, "So you're saying the Democrats will save us?" To which he responded, "I think the Democrats might save us." His biased optimism for the future was enlightening, though not necessarily beneficial. Though moderate/apathetic myself, my skepticism kept me from jumping in with both feet.