Paul Krugman: 'Future historians may well record that American democracy died in May 2017'

New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman has taken stock of several recent events and has come away very pessimistic about the future of democracy in the United States.

Writing on his own blog, Krugman warns that America is rapidly turning into a kleptocracy that he calls "Trumpistan," in which the president can demand loyalty from law enforcement officials and have journalists arrested at will.

Among other things, Krugman notes that Trump HHS Director Tom Price recently praised police officers who arrested a reporter for yelling out questions at him, while also posting a link to a New York Times report which alleges that Trump asked fired FBI Director James Comey to pledge his loyalty to him.

Additionally, Krugman also expresses alarm that Congressional Republicans have shown "absolutely no inclination to do anything about any of this."

"So, has America already become an authoritarian regime where law enforcement serves the supreme leader, not the Constitution, where questioning or even ridiculing the regime’s officials has become a crime, and in which the legislature is just a rubber-stamping operation?" he asks. "We don’t know the answer yet; we’ll have to see how things unfold in the next few weeks. But future historians may well record that American democracy died in May 2017."