Man of the people Paul Krugman totally rode the magic subway the other day

Brett T. | 7:36 PM on June 04, 2013

We know that New York Times writer Paul Krugman isn’t a racist; he’s a liberal, after all, and come to think of it, he’s really not that different from you and me. Like many, he was amused by that “hysterical screed” recently posted by the Wall Street Journal’s Dorothy Rabinowitz that criticized New York City’s new CitiBike bicycle sharing program. Krugman today characterized the Journal piece as “reflecting people who are members of the modern carriage trade, and who get annoyed at the proletarian peddlers getting in the way of their chauffeurs.”

Not that there’s anything wrong with being driven around Manhattan. Krugman notes that he’s often chauffeured to and from his television appearances, but just recently he turned down the car service and rode the subway to and from Fareed Zakaria’s studio. Krugman is awed by the “magic” of the city’s train system, although “if you’re the type who gets antsy jammed up against lots of people of various classes and colors,” he can see why that wouldn’t be an appealing option.

It’s a short post, but for those with better things to do with their time, the Washington Examiner’s Timothy P. Carney has the shorter, illustrated version.

https://twitter.com/TPCarney/status/342040523974012928

@TPCarney @JonahNRO awesome! And without Krugman, I'd have so little idea about how much racism is a factor in the economy.

— Jon (@jonfw2) June 4, 2013

@TPCarney @JonahNRO I ride the subway daily and thus think Paul Krugman ought to share some of his Nobel money with me.

— Kim Jong-unthony Bialy (@AnthonyBialy) June 4, 2013