Missing The Point

Paul Krugman misses the obvious point once again. He writes about financing wars and uses Britain and France during the Napoleonic wars. Britain financed her wars with borrowed money and was in fine shape following the war, while France fought the war on a "pay as you go" basis and suffered hyperinflation and high interest costs on borrowing following the war. In saying that this is "[s]omewhat relevant to current debates," he implies that borrowing money has no negative consequences and that failing to borrow money to fight our wars might prove costly.

He failed to note that the problems France suffered after the war might just possibly be due to the fact that it lost the damned war.