Paul Krugman answers questions on Quantitative Easing, China, the Fiscal Cliff, Banking, Interest Rates, Euroscepticism and the Irish Economy from members of the UCD Literary & Historical Society at University College Dublin before receiving the James Joyce Award. 13 January 2013 Questions listed below: 00:15 "I read your blogs quite a bit and recently I've noticed, I think you've started off being a mild sceptic about the Euro and seemed to harden over time, most recently you seem to be thinking that it might be able to work. Is that a fair representation?" 07:23 Stimulating the Irish Economy "In Ireland it's often times mention by politicians on the left that we need to stimulate the economy, but politicians on the right say we can't stimulate the economy because Ireland is an open economy, however whenever we do tend to talk about stimulating the economy, very rarely is it actually mentioned ways in which we can actually do that. What areas of the economy do you think Ireland can stimulate in order to improve economic growth" 09:46 Political vs Economic decisions in Europe "Just on what you were talking about in your speech, about where policy makers often have these adverse incentives to go against what might be economically sensible, I heard you talking there about the adoption of the single currency, despite the fact there was a serious chance that it could go wrong, a lot of people looking back say the reason that plan was adopted was more so a political project for Europe, because of the history of the EU as a peace building institute. Do you think that attitude still exists for policy makers and that there have more ramifications in terms of getting out of this crisis and in the future." 14:25 The United States fiscal cliff "Every so often the US approaches the fiscal cliff and there's lots of drama and news and everything gets sorted. Do you think there are enough anti-economics people in congress that one day pretty soon they will drive straight over or will there always be enough people to say stop." 18:39 Europe as the next Japan: "20 years ago you were making some of the same observations about Japan, Japan basically did nothing for 20 years, what are the chances that Europe could be the next Japan?" 21:22 The sustainability of the Chinese economy: "According to the latest report from the IMF, the Chinese economy GDP has already surpassed the United States in 2013, in terms of Purchasing Power Parity. In your personal view, in the next 20 years or even 10 years, will the Chinese economy be sustainable or is there some big crisis in front of us?" 26:25 Manufacturing in the West "Since the recession what are the chances of the western taking back some of it's manufacturing base?" 29:03 Quantitative Easing "I know you've been a champion of Quantitative Easing for a long time, I was just wondering if you've seen a lot of effects of it in the US?" 32:52 Banking "How do you think we can better solve the problem of interdependence between banks?" 35:52 Germany and Interest Rates "You've written on your blog about Germany's lack of reciprocity, when back in the recover in the early 2000s, Germany was basically offset by expansions in Spain. And if you were cynical you might look at the interest rate and say, actually, the control variable is Germany's inflation rate and not the Eurozone as a whole as the inflation rate, and I guess Germany is very inflation averse, how do you counter that, how do set 3 of 4% there for inflation, how do you get that into the thinking? It seems to me it would be populous to say we should be out protesting in the streets for wage rises for Germany workers, that would work, how can we stop worrying about inflation and learn to love it?" **** Nobel prize-winning economist and New York Times op-ed columnist, Professor Paul Krugman has received the James Joyce Award from UCD Literary & Historical Society. ** Full story: http://www.ucd.ie/news/2014/01JAN14/140114-Economist-Professor-Paul-Krugman-receives-James-Joyce-Award-from-the-UCD-Literary-and-Historical-Society.html ** "This award recognises Professor Krugman's outstanding contribution to our modern understanding of complex economic theories. As one of the world's leading economists, his work as an Op-Ed columnist with the New York Times has so often explained in clear and concise terms the economic issues that affect us all, which is critically important, especially in these times of global economic uncertainty," said Alex Owens, Auditor of UCD Literary and Historical Society, University College Dublin.

• published: 14 Jan 2014
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