Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman on Tuesday unloaded on the "catastrophe" that's occurring due to X owner Elon Musk's takeover of the United States government's payment system.
Writing on his Substack page, Krugman argued that Musk's efforts to unilaterally shut down government agencies such as USAID show that "the federal government has been taken over by bad people who are also stunningly ignorant."
Krugman expresses particular puzzlement with Musk's decision to go after USAID given that it makes up a minuscule portion of the federal budget.
"So why is Musk such a hysterical enemy of the agency, whose main purpose is providing humanitarian aid?" he asked. "There may be some backstory here, in which USAID somehow once interfered with a Musk project. And Musk is surely banking on public innumeracy: abolishing an agency sounds as if it will save a lot of money, and few voters understand how small $40 billion is in the federal context. But my guess is that in Musk’s worldview the mere fact of trying to help people in need makes you a radical-left Marxist who hates America."
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He then warned that Musk's control over the United States Treasury's payment system creates "immense potential for mischief" that could completely upend the entire American economy.
"Imagine that you’re a federal contractor who has made campaign donations to Democrats; suddenly the government stops paying what it owes you and brushes off inquiries by saying that they’re working on the problem," he warned.
"Or you’re a federal employee who, according to somebody in your office who has a personal grievance, has expressed sympathy for DEI; somehow your regularly scheduled salary payments stop being deposited into your bank account. Or even imagine that you’re a retiree who canvassed for Kamala Harris, and for some reason your checks from Social Security stop coming."
