Memory Hole Alert - NYTimes.com

On Krugman's blog are the original numbers put out by Rep. Paul Ryan. they are based on wildly optimistic unemployment rate - of 2.5%, which have never been achieved.  Targets by planners used to e around 4%.  Now 5% - 6% is considered the best attainable.

Memory Hole Alert - Paul Krugman"

Economist's View: "The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too"

Rep. Paul Ryan (R - WI)

James K. Galbraith

As an anti-dote to Paul Ryan's rebuttal of the President's State of the Union Address (and the commentariat's echo chamber) here is an excellent review of James K. Galbraith's book The Predator State which demonstrates the fraudulent character of the Free Market label claimed by Ryan, et al. The reviewer, Randall Wray observes:

Wherever one finds a sector [of the economy] that still operates reasonably well, one finds remnants of New Deal institutions that support, guarantee, regulate, and leverage private activities, in spheres as diverse as higher education, housing, pensions, healthcare, the military-industrial complex (and the prison-industrial complex). Naturally, even these sectors are endangered as they represent potential riches (witness subprimes, a privatization mess that Wall Street would love to repeat with Social Security). Still, Jamie is hopeful. The ideology of free markets is bankrupt, but the US is not. The path is clear: re-regulation, planning, standards (including wage controls), and coming to grips with the nation’s global responsibilities.

Economist's View: "The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too"

h/t Paul Krugman