7 ms·

guy who predicted that the internet would be a flop and whose career amounted to taking potshots from a paper calling one of the greatest capital allocators of

guy who predicted that the internet would be a flop and whose career amounted to taking potshots from a paper calling one of the greatest capital allocators of all time a fraud https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/paul-krugman-internets-effect-economy/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/paul-krugman-internets-eff...

throw0101c 3mo ago
> guy who predicted that the internet would be a flop 1. If you actually read the Snopes article, you'll see that his 1998 "prediction" was actually a humorous take on the Information Superhighway hoopla what was going on at the time. 2. Something else he wrote in 1998, in more serious matter, has been widely cited and was very important in the post-GFC world: https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/1998/06/1998b_bpea_krugman_dominquez_rogoff.pdf https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/1998/06/1998b_b... 3. If you do want to take his "prediction" seriously, he was of course wrong about the social impact of the Internet (which he has himself admitted, IIRC). 4. But if you look at the economic numbers of the productivity Internet, he was actually correct: * https://archive.ph/DUDEw https://archive.ph/DUDEw * https://archive.ph/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-24/paul-krugman-got-something-very-right-about-the-internet-the-fax-machine-and-the-economy https://archive.ph/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2... There are a few chapters on the growth (and lack thereof) of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) in: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_and_Fall_of_American_Growth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_and_Fall_of_American_...
- starik36 3mo ago
  You should probably read the snopes article, because nowhere in it does it say that it was a humorous take on the Information Superhighway hoopla. You are spreading lies. Easily checked lies.
  - throw0101c 3mo ago
    The Snopes article has him saying, about the article, "I was clearly trying to be provocative…". I would interpret that as being humorously contrarian. He actually revisited the 1998 article in a 2023 NYT column: * https://archive.ph/3fidX https://archive.ph/3fidX * https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/04/opinion/internet-economy.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/04/opinion/internet-economy.... The productivity numbers show he wasn't as wrong, economically, as folks try to make him out to be, which point (4) goes into. The research on computers and productivity goes back decades: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Productivity_paradox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Productivity_paradox * https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-solow-productivity-paradox-what-do-computers-do-to-productivity/ https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-solow-productivity-pa...
  - myvoiceismypass 3mo ago
    Please read up on the concept of "Controversial" or "Hot" takes.

throw0101c 3mo ago

> guy who predicted that the internet would be a flop 1. If you actually read the Snopes article, you'll see that his 1998 "prediction" was actually a humorous take on the Information Superhighway hoopla what was going on at the time. 2. Something else he wrote in 1998, in more serious matter, has been widely cited and was very important in the post-GFC world: https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/1998/06/1998b_bpea_krugman_dominquez_rogoff.pdf https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/1998/06/1998b_b... 3. If you do want to take his "prediction" seriously, he was of course wrong about the social impact of the Internet (which he has himself admitted, IIRC). 4. But if you look at the economic numbers of the productivity Internet, he was actually correct: * https://archive.ph/DUDEw https://archive.ph/DUDEw * https://archive.ph/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-24/paul-krugman-got-something-very-right-about-the-internet-the-fax-machine-and-the-economy https://archive.ph/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2... There are a few chapters on the growth (and lack thereof) of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) in: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_and_Fall_of_American_Growth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rise_and_Fall_of_American_...

starik36 3mo ago
You should probably read the snopes article, because nowhere in it does it say that it was a humorous take on the Information Superhighway hoopla. You are spreading lies. Easily checked lies.
- throw0101c 3mo ago
  The Snopes article has him saying, about the article, "I was clearly trying to be provocative…". I would interpret that as being humorously contrarian. He actually revisited the 1998 article in a 2023 NYT column: * https://archive.ph/3fidX https://archive.ph/3fidX * https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/04/opinion/internet-economy.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/04/opinion/internet-economy.... The productivity numbers show he wasn't as wrong, economically, as folks try to make him out to be, which point (4) goes into. The research on computers and productivity goes back decades: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Productivity_paradox https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Productivity_paradox * https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-solow-productivity-paradox-what-do-computers-do-to-productivity/ https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-solow-productivity-pa...
- myvoiceismypass 3mo ago
  Please read up on the concept of "Controversial" or "Hot" takes.