It’s not every day that a journalist—particularly one as sober and unflamboyant as longtime economics professor and “New York Times” columnist Paul Krugman—has a song written in his honor. But then Loudon Wainwright, whose “deep ache of laughter” I’ve written about before in this space, is no everyday songwriter.
Wainwright’s musings on the human condition most often walk the razor’s edge between heartache and mirth, with “The Krugman Blues” angling decidedly toward the “mirth” end of that equation.
Not that Paul Krugman is big on mirth himself.
Which is part of the reason, no doubt, that Wainwright has so much fun with this song—and happily lets us in on the joke.
Which does nothing but make this pairing of Wainwright the jesting singer-songwriter and Krugman the restrained economist all the more amusing and ripe for dramatization…
Matter of plain fact: In the probably 15 years or so that I have been following Krugman’s public discourses on economics and its natural entanglement with politics from his perch at the “Times,” I cannot recall him ever waxing even remotely humorous. He’s an economist, after all, ya know?
What can one expect from a Nobel Prize winner in a field so famously given to the wildly disparate orientations, predictions, and explanations of its practitioners that it is sardonically referred to as “the dismal science?”
All of which makes Wainwright’s tongue-in-cheek homage to Krugman all the more compelling. He starts right in with his first two lines:
I read the NY Times, its where I get my news
Paul Krugmans on the op-ed page, thats where I get the blues
Is Wainwright toying with the specter of Krugman’s sometimes dark moods, even allowing for the fact that Krugman has been most always right about the economics of rampant greed and venality shaped by the ruling economic Lords of the Universe and their many pompous, insufferable enablers in the political class?
Sure.
Can Krugman roll with the joke at his expense?
I suspect so.
What Krugman hasn’t ever done is let up on his relentlessly sober, clear-eyed, just-the-facts assessments whenever the economic data tell him something is off-kilter with the American economy. Chief among its sins in recent decades has been the radical and ever-growing income disparities that he has been pointing to all along as both unfair and unsustainable. Those very disparities have led, among other things, to the populist uprising that swept Donald Trump—a Lord of the Universe if ever there was one—into office not once, but now twice.
But no worries—Wainwright fills in admirably to make it all go down easier. Not easily, mind you. But easiER.
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In bidding farewell early this week after 25 years of columns for the “Times,” Krugman gave no indication that his departure was tied to any blues engendered by Trump’s return. At 71, maybe he’s just looking to slow down or churn out another of the 37 books he has authored or contributed to over the years. (He’s apparently still teaching, now at City University of New York, where he has long made his residence.)
Wainwright, now 78, continues to tour as the workmanlike singer-songwriter he is, virtually married to the road. He’s currently finishing a swing up the Pacific Northwest before crossing the Atlantic near January’s end with a long string of concerts across the United Kingdom.
“I’m big in Britain!” I can imagine him exclaiming, his eyes rolling about in his head, a typically mischievous grin on his face.
Paul Krugman
“The Krugman Blues” appears on Wainwright’s 2010 album, “10 Songs for the New Depression.” It was inspired by the housing bubble and Great Financial Crisis of 2008, in which the banking class stretched itself to the breaking point with get-rich-quick-by-lending-to-everyone-with-a-pulse schemes that ultimately cratered the economy.
From which, surprise, surprise, most bankers emerged with their fortunes and year-end bonuses intact while taxpayers footed the bill.
It’s enough to see any economist with a social conscience go apoplectic, and Krugman did, though as always, in measured tones. Wainwright references “that pissed-off look on Pauls face,” something I have always seen more as the slightly muted exasperation of a cultured and essentially even-tempered public figure.
“Loner. Ordinarily shy. Shy with individuals,” was his self-description in a 2011 “New York” magazine profile.
Which does nothing but make this pairing of Wainwright the jesting singer-songwriter and Krugman the restrained economist all the more amusing and ripe for dramatization, whether in song by Wainwright or perhaps by a playwright plunking them in a room together searching for conversational topics or a good song to go out with as armageddon looms.
Let’s give the jesting half of that pairing a listen now before returning for some closing comments.
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THE KRUGMAN BLUES
I read the NY Times, its where I get my news
Paul Krugmans on the op-ed page, thats where I get the blues
Cuz Paul always tells it like it is, we get it blow by blow
Krugmans got the Nobel Prize so Krugman ought to know
When Paul goes on The News Hour to talk to old Jim Lehrer
He looks so sad and crestfallen its more than I can bear
All the other experts all seem way off base
And I guess that I identify with that pissed-off look on Pauls face
When Paul gets really bummed out, thats when I get scared
But when Paul says theres a glint of hope I feel weve all been spared
Sometimes when hes on the TV, in the background you can spot his school logo
Yeah, Paul teaches at Princeton U, so Krugman ought to know
Hes got that hang dog look about him, Pauls one unhappy pup
Krugman looks so downtrodden I wish hed lighten up
I know he wants to clue us in concerning all our impending doom
But I got The Krugman Blues from all Pauls gloom
Once I saw Krugman on a train, Amtrackin to DC
I recognized that sad face cuz I seen it on the TV
He looked up from his laptop when I said, Hello Paul
Then I said, “Keep up all the good work, Paul
You bring me down but way to go, Paul!
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Wainwright’s is a vernacular rather than poetic approach to songwriting. No “moons and Junes and ferris wheels,” or a “baffled king composing Hallelujah.” He gives us the material world instead, the “NY Times” and the “News Hour,” and lines that make no one think of Robert Frost: “Sometimes when hes on the TV, in the background you can spot his school logo.”
Somehow, he makes it all work, partly by sidling up to syllables and elongating vowels to bring his lines to heel, and partly by a kind of manic energy that drives his humorous songs in particular.
Then there’s the psychological acuity of his serious songs, where he uses the same vernacular language to often devastating effect in probing the murky waters of deep human relationship, whether to others or one’s self. (See below for but one example.)
Mostly it’s the playfulness that stands out in “The Krugman Blues.” Who but Wainwright would think to write a near-nonsense song about an economics columnist with a “hang dog look about him” who is “one unhappy pup?”
Sure, playfulness is often the last and best refuge for thinking persons to avoid going stark raving mad. Loudon Wainwright may well consider himself among the fortunate in adopting that strategy and making it work over a now long and productive career. To which it feels entirely apropos to respond: “Keep up all the good work, Loudon/You help keep me going, so way to go!
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Bonus selection, on the far more serious side…
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For a list of all songs in this series, most recent on top, see:
http://andrewhidas.com/?s=Brilliant+songs
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/andrewhidas/
Deep appreciation to the photographers! Unless otherwise stated, some rights reserved under Creative Commons licensing.
Elizabeth Haslam, whose photos (except for the books) grace the rotating banner at top of page.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lizhaslam/
Library books photo by Larry Rose, all rights reserved, contact: larry@rosefoto.com
Blue lake by Vishal Patel, Metro Detroit https://www.flickr.com/photos/40386452@N05/
Wainwright in concert by Collapse the Light, Bellows Falls, Vermont https://www.flickr.com/photos/eamon33/
Paul Krugman headshot by Lou Gold, “All Around,” Brazil https://www.flickr.com/photos/visionshare/
You deserve kudos for finding a song about any economist, much less Paul Krugman who doesn’t exactly endear himself toward the charismatic. However, like Loudon Wainwright, I appreciated Krugman’s forthrightness and ability to break down the “dismal science” into an understandable and not so “dismal” read. While he considered himself a liberal in both his economic and political philosophy, he would bow now and then to conservatives whose positions had merit. As an advocate of free trade, he viewed the exchange of goods among nations a necessity for any successful, sustained economy. He often wrote it needn’t be a rivalry. All nations can find another nation to be a friendly place to export and import. Ronald Reagan’s global economic policy would have nodded in agreement. Although he praised Barack Obama’s push for healthcare reform as profound and long overdue, he criticized his stimulus bill as being grossly inadequate as well as letting the financial institutions off the hook for their failings. He abhorred tariffs but supported a surcharge on Chinese imports because of that nation’s unfair monetary exchange rates. He had guts to accuse George W. Bush and Rudy Guiliani at the height of their popularity after 9/11 for using the tragedy for political gain (e.g. the preemptive strike on Iraq). His critics railed against him because he allowed his personal liberality to undermine his economic arguments. Nevertheless, when the smoke has cleared, even his detractors will concede his stature as one of the most influential economists of the last few decades is well deserved.
In the last paragraph of his final column, Paul Krugman summed up Trumpism in a single word: KAKISTOCRACY. Kakistoracy is defined as a government run by the worst or least qualified individuals. Ain’t that the truth, Paul Krugman.
Loundon introduced himself to my friends and me back in the late 60s with Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road. That song transports me to the drives at night on Kansas highways tuned in to a AM station on a tinny radio. Over the decades I’ve seen him perform 3 times, all in the Triangle Area. For many years with a colleague who went to boarding school with Loudon–which I thought was an amazing happenstance. Still today Loudon soldiers on, sometimes brilliantly, as in his song about the O.J. Simpson trial. He hammers and drums away at that guitar to get his message across. Occasionally he’ll write and perform a melody that is so darn beautiful it makes one cry. He’s an inspirational character, someone who keeps working at his craft, sharing his gifts to a broad public. Long Live Loudon!
Indeed, Daniel—Loudon is a certified road warrior, like so many great musicians slinging a guitar on their backs and hopscotching from one town to another around the world to make a living at what they love. Not filling arenas, but engendering fierce loyalty among their followers who fill the smaller, more intimate venues where they play. He’s truly an original, as are his offspring, tempestuous as their relationships have been. Nice to know he’s affected you in much the same way.