Economist Paul Krugman during FIDES 2023, held at the Windsor Hotel
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on September 25, 2023 (A.PAES/Shutterstock.com)
October 30, 2025
ALTERNET
When Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are interviewed by friendly media outlets, they typically argue that President Donald Trump's steep new tariffs will create enormous prosperity in the United States.
But liberal economist Paul Krugman has a very different view.
In a Substack column posted on October 30, Krugman warns that even if Trump abandoned his protectionist trade policy, the U.S. economy would suffer long-lasting damage.
"A little over six months ago," Krugman explains, "Donald Trump shocked the world by announcing a huge jump in tariffs to levels not seen since the 1930s. Most of these tariffs were clearly illegal and have been so ruled by lower courts — but it's anyone's guess how an extremely submissive Supreme Court will rule. Since then, he has backed off some tariffs but imposed others, some on bizarre grounds — a Canadian province ran an ad he didn't like! — creating constant uncertainty."
Krugman goes on to identify "three types of economic damage" that "Trump's chaotic tariff policies" have inflicted: (1) "higher prices for American producers and consumers," (2) "economic uncertainty," and (3) "the global loss of American credibility."
"Even if the worst in terms of prices and uncertainty is over," Krugman argues, "it's clear that Trump's tariffs have inflicted lasting damage on the U.S. economy as well as the global economic order."
During the United States' 2024 presidential race, Trump attacked then-President Joe Biden and then-Vice President Kamala Harris relentlessly on inflation — which he promised to lower "on Day 1" if he returned to the White House.
But Krugman laments that prices are going up, not down, during Trump's second presidency.
"Inflation has accelerated since Donald Trump went on his tariff rampage," the liberal economist warns. "Late last year, before Liberation Day and all that, professional forecasters expected 'core' consumer prices — which exclude volatile food and energy prices — to rise 2.4 percent over the course of 2025. The latest official reading, and the last we may get for a while, put core inflation at 3 percent. More direct evidence comes from the Pricing Lab, which relies on retail prices posted online — something we need to do while the shutdown lasts, and maybe afterwards if Trump corrupts the official statistics."
Krugman continues, "I've used their data before. They show a significant bump in the prices of imported goods, especially compared with their declining trend BT (before Trump). In a new paper, the Pricing Lab analyzes its data and estimates that the Trump tariffs have raised overall consumer prices by 0.7 percent."
But liberal economist Paul Krugman has a very different view.
In a Substack column posted on October 30, Krugman warns that even if Trump abandoned his protectionist trade policy, the U.S. economy would suffer long-lasting damage.
"A little over six months ago," Krugman explains, "Donald Trump shocked the world by announcing a huge jump in tariffs to levels not seen since the 1930s. Most of these tariffs were clearly illegal and have been so ruled by lower courts — but it's anyone's guess how an extremely submissive Supreme Court will rule. Since then, he has backed off some tariffs but imposed others, some on bizarre grounds — a Canadian province ran an ad he didn't like! — creating constant uncertainty."
Krugman goes on to identify "three types of economic damage" that "Trump's chaotic tariff policies" have inflicted: (1) "higher prices for American producers and consumers," (2) "economic uncertainty," and (3) "the global loss of American credibility."
"Even if the worst in terms of prices and uncertainty is over," Krugman argues, "it's clear that Trump's tariffs have inflicted lasting damage on the U.S. economy as well as the global economic order."
During the United States' 2024 presidential race, Trump attacked then-President Joe Biden and then-Vice President Kamala Harris relentlessly on inflation — which he promised to lower "on Day 1" if he returned to the White House.
But Krugman laments that prices are going up, not down, during Trump's second presidency.
"Inflation has accelerated since Donald Trump went on his tariff rampage," the liberal economist warns. "Late last year, before Liberation Day and all that, professional forecasters expected 'core' consumer prices — which exclude volatile food and energy prices — to rise 2.4 percent over the course of 2025. The latest official reading, and the last we may get for a while, put core inflation at 3 percent. More direct evidence comes from the Pricing Lab, which relies on retail prices posted online — something we need to do while the shutdown lasts, and maybe afterwards if Trump corrupts the official statistics."
Krugman continues, "I've used their data before. They show a significant bump in the prices of imported goods, especially compared with their declining trend BT (before Trump). In a new paper, the Pricing Lab analyzes its data and estimates that the Trump tariffs have raised overall consumer prices by 0.7 percent."
Economist Paul Krugman: MAGA is showing its 'cruel intentions ahead of schedule'
Economist Paul Krugman at the Banorte Ixe Plenary Session 2013
on November 6, 2023 (Tanya Lara/Shutterstock.com)
October 31, 2025
ALTERNET
When Donald Trump was running against Democrats in the United States' 2024 presidential race — first presumptive nominee Joe Biden, then the actual nominee Kamala Harris — he focused on the economy relentlessly, especially inflation, and promised to lower prices "on Day 1." And that messaging did a lot to help Trump get past the finish line, although not by a lot: Trump won the popular vote by roughly 1.5 percent.
Liberal economist Paul Krugman, during the race, repeatedly warned that Trump was not sincere about helping the working class. And in a Halloween 2025 column published on his Substack page, Krugman argues that the partial shutdown of the United States' federal government is inspiring Republicans to show their "cruel intensions" much sooner than planned.
"Federal funding for SNAP, the nutritional aid program still often referred to as food stamps, ends tonight," Krugman explains. "This will have catastrophic impacts on 42 million Americans, the great majority of them children, elderly or disabled. Millions more Americans are about to discover that health insurance has become vastly more expensive, in many cases unaffordable. Why are these terrible things happening? At a basic level, they're happening because Republicans want them to happen."
The former New York Times columnist continues, "Drastic cuts in food stamps and health care programs were central planks in Project 2025, which is indeed the Trump Administration’s policy platform, and were written into legislation in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that passed last summer. But the consequences of these cruel intentions weren't supposed to be this obvious this early."
Harris and other Democrats were vehement critics of the Heritage Foundation's far-right Project 2025 proposals, and Krugman believes that Trump was being totally disingenuous when he claimed to know nothing about Project 2025.
However, the GOP, according to Krugman, didn't want its attacks on safety-net programs to become obvious before the 2026 midterms.
"Why the backloading?" Krugman argues. "Presumably, Republicans believed that by the time Americans woke up to what was happening, the GOP would have effectively consolidated one-party rule, making future elections irrelevant. Instead, however, the mask is being ripped off right now, well ahead of schedule."
Paul Krugman's full Substack column is available at this link.
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