Paul Krugman: Reagan Was a Keynesian

There’s no question that America’s recovery from the financial crisis has been disappointing. In fact, I’ve
been arguing that the era since 2007 is best viewed as a “depression,” an extended period of economic
weakness and high unemployment that, like the Great Depression of the 1930s, persists despite episodes
during which the economy grows. And Republicans are, of course, trying — with considerable success — to turn this dismal state of affairs to their political advantage.

They love, in particular, to contrast President Obama’s record with that of Ronald Reagan, who, by this
point in his presidency, was indeed presiding over a strong economic recovery. You might think that the
more relevant comparison is with George W. Bush, who, at this stage of his administration, was — unlike
Mr. Obama — still presiding over a large loss in private-sector jobs. And, as I’ll explain shortly, the
economic slump Reagan faced was very different from our current depression, and much easier to deal
with. Still, the Reagan-Obama comparison is revealing in some ways. So let’s look at that comparison, shall we?