krugman on responses to recession

i'm watching the polls as much as the primaries this election season, with a crass, bottom-line eye to the electability of my party's candidates in the november general election. i've resorted to this soulless, if pragmatic, approach because i believe that between-party differences swamp within-party differences.

i've only recently begun to work through the issues that would allow me to distinguish among my party's roster of minimally acceptable candidates. i took a li'l online quiz, which told me that my views didn't quite match those of the candidate i'd been supporting (due, in part, to missing data problems, as said candidate has apparently taken disappointingly few actual positions).

though i pay special attention to candidates' crime policies, i generally vote based on how i think they would guide the economy. it seems like a particularly important time to elect a president who gets the global economy. and really, is it ever a bad time to elect an economically literate chief executive? in any case, paul krugman offers a useful and thought-provoking review here, based on what candidates have said about how they would respond to recession.

i'm not sure i buy his conclusions, but i certainly appreciate mr. krugman's analysis. he offers enough basic information to pique the interest of readers and start them digging for specific policy positions. though i'm not sure who could write it, i'd greatly appreciate a parallel analysis of candidates' positions on iraq.