Not one of his New York Times commentaries in the first half of 2013, when “austerian” deficit cutting was taking effect, forecast a major reduction in unemployment or that economic growth would recover to brisk rates. On the contrary, “the disastrous turn toward austerity has destroyed millions of jobs and ruined many lives,” he argued, with the US Congress exposing Americans to “the imminent threat of severe economic damage from short-term spending cuts.”
克鲁格曼的预测就是如此。他在2013年上半年的所有《纽约时报》评论中——当时“紧缩派”赤字削减措施正在开始见效——都没有预见到失业的大幅下降，也没有预见到经济增长能恢复活力。相反，“可怕的转向紧缩摧毁了数百万个就业岗位，也破坏了无数人的生活，” 他说，而美国国会让美国人暴露在“来自短期支出削减的严重经济伤害的巨大威胁之下”。因此，“充分复苏仍然十分遥远，”他警告说，“我甚至担心它到底能不能实现。”