The growth of the Internet will slow drastically, as the flaw in 'Metcalfe's law'โwhich states that the number of potential connections in a network is proportional to the square of the number of participantsโbecomes apparent: most people have nothing to say to each other! By 2005 or so, it will become clear that the Internet's impact on the economy has been no greater than the fax machine's.
Paul KrugmanSome years down the pike, we're going to get the real solution, which is going to be a combination of death panels and sales taxes. It's going to be that we're actually going to take Medicare under control, and we're going to have to get some additional revenue, probably from a VAT. But it's not going to happen now.
Paul KrugmanI don't think I've had any great success in predicting politics or social change, nor have I really tried.
Paul KrugmanYou know that Republicans will yell about the evils of partisanship whenever anyone tries to make a connection between the rhetoric of Beck, Limbaugh, etc. and the violence I fear weโre going to see in the months and years ahead. But violent acts are what happen when you create a climate of hate. And itโs long past time for the GOPโs leaders to take a stand against the hate-mongers.
Paul Krugman