Krugman reports that jobs in Dec 09 are slightly higher then they were in 99, except those greater numbers are due to ever bigger government, and he acknowledges that private-sector employment had declined more than any previous decade on record. To Krugman a job in government is equivalent to a private sector job, despite for every government employee, taxpayers have to give part of their income to support that government employee, and that government employee only returns a small percentage of his income in return.   In short, Krugman is not a free-market economist who understands that the value of a dollar is measured in the productive capacity of the nation. Since dollars can only purchase US commodities, as our productive capacity declines the value of the dollar declines. As fewer commodities are produced relative to the volume of dollars in circulation prices for consumer goods should be expected to rise not fall.   In 2007 Krugman acknowledges that the value of a dollar in 2007 was less than it was in 1999 because of inflation. The decade between 99 and 09 stock investments did not rise according to Krugman. Adjusted for inflation stock prices across the board declined substantially. So who does Krugman blame, corporations, banks, accounting practices, everyone but the Federal Reserve and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 1977, which is actually a misnomer, the ARRA more appropriately, should have been called the Reinvestment Moral Hazard Act, because it essentially guaranteed banks a profit on mortgages that everyone knew would end up in foreclosure. For more on this subject read The Big Zero by Paul Krugman Dec 27, 09.