'Inflation Hawks' Will Kill Our Recovery

Paul Krugman assesses the economic mess in Greece and sees "no good answers" for them but an important lesson for America. Namely, "steer clear of deflation," a horrible process that Greece must now endure because it's stuck with the euro. We don't have that problem, so let's "stop all this "grandstanding and penny-pinching over short-term spending to help a distressed economy," he writes at the New York Times.

"What worries me most about the US situation right now is the rising clamor from inflation hawks, who want the Fed to raise rates (and the federal government to pull back from stimulus) even though employment has barely started to recover," he writes. "If they get their way, they’ll perpetuate mass unemployment." Our "public debt will be manageable if we eventually return to vigorous growth and moderate inflation. But if the tight-money people prevail, that won’t happen—and all bets will be off." (More inflation stories.)