In one quarter, federal spending jumped 25 percent. As often, wars are good for economies. (On an encouraging note, non-defense spending slumped a little in the quarter. But given the Bush’s fiscal record, don’t count on this continuing.) Poor Krugman. It doesn’t get much worse than this, does it? He’ll be really bummed if people start getting jobs again.
GILLIGAN UNMASKED: Another bummer for Krugman. Leaked transcripts from the parliamentary committee examining the BBC’s claim that Tony Blair had distorted intelligence to beef up the case for war against Saddam are riveting stuff. Essentially, Andrew Gilligan, the key BBC reporter, unravels in broad daylight. Both Tory and Labour MPs accused the BBC reporter of “leading the public up the garden path in a most staggering way.” One asked Gilligan if “he wished to issue a full and frank apology to this committee for having, in my view I believe, grievously misled this committee.” Hard to get more damning than that. Meanwhile, evidence for WMDs in Iraq mounts up.
The Dish 