Laar Voices Support for Anti-Keynesian Tweet Offensive
MP and former PM Mart Laar says Estonians should close ranks behind President Toomas Hendrik Ilves in his tiff with economist Paul Krugman.
"Being an advocate of the ideas of John Maynard Keynes, Paul Krugman can naturally not be to Estonia's liking, as ever since re-independence, Estonia has done nothing if not proved how wrong these theories are," wrote Laar, whose first term as prime minister in the early 1990s was characterized by Friedman-style shock reform.
"Estonia has acted contrary to the recommendations of Krugman and others and has undoubtedly been more successful than many other European countries staving off the recession," Laar wrote in Postimees on June 11
Laar said the fact that Krugman "started talking about Roosevelt and the Great Depression" in his second blog entry on the subject was due to the fact that Estonia's vindication of Friedman-type measures was so clear-cut.
Krugman's attempts to advise Europe on how to spend instead of save have met with opposition from Germany and other countries, Laar said, and Ilves was right to enter the fray, he added.
Kristopher Rikken