If New York Times columnist Paul Krugman debates Austrian economist Robert Murphy, a New York food bank will get over $73,000. Yet Krugman, who believes in income redistribution to help the poor, has refused to debate Murphy.
The author, winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics, says he does not want to debate in a “public circus.” Krugman has previously cited Murphy’s analysis of capital theory as “the best exposition I’ve seen yet of the Austrian view that’s sweeping the GOP.”
Murphy reportedly created a campaign at ThePoint.com two years ago that allows visitors to pledge money to charity if Krugman debates him. Murphy has even suggested that liberal Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein moderates the debate.
As of this writing, if Krugman accepts Murphy’s debate invitation, more than $73,000 will go to the Fresh Food Program of FoodBankNYC.org, a non-profit organization Krugman’s the New York Times says “delivers food to nearly all of the city’s food pantries and soup kitchens.”
(via eltigrechico)