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Sunday, Jan 13, 2013 9:25 PM UTC

Paul Krugman chastises Jon Stewart for mocking the platinum coin

"Lots of people think it’s a good idea," Krugman said. "But it’s not just, ‘Oh, those idiots’" VIDEO

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Topics: Video, Paul Krugman, Jon Stewart, ABC, trillion-dollar coin, Platinum coin,

Paul Krugman chastises Jon Stewart for mocking the platinum coin (Credit: The Daily Show)

Economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman slammed Jon Stewart for his segment on the platinum coin, saying that “Obviously neither he nor his staff did even five minutes of looking at the financial blogs.”

In an ABC News Web exclusive, Krugman said: “It is a funny thing. But you want to be funny from a point of view of understanding what the issues are. There’s a reason we’ve gotten to this place.” He added: “Obviously neither he nor his staff did even five minutes of looking at the financial blogs which have been talking about this. Lots of people think it’s a bad idea. Lots of people think it’s a good idea. But it’s not just, ‘Oh, those idiots.’”

Watch:

Krugman was answering a question about a recent blog post where he called Jon Stewart “lazy” for mocking the coin idea. “In this case, however, it’s obvious that nobody at TDS spent even a few minutes researching the topic. It was just yuk-yuk-yuk they’re talking about a trillion-dollar con hahaha,” Krugman wrote. “Hey, if we want this kind of intellectual laziness, we can just tune in to Fox.”

In the segment in question, from Thursday, Stewart says: “I’m not an economist, but if we’re just going to make shit up, I’d say go big or go home. How about a $20 trillion coin?”

Watch:

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com. More Jillian Rayfield.

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