Krugman’s at it again in his latest Times op-ed – criticizing policy makers pushing for fiscal contraction these days. The economy does seem pretty weak at this point. The US just lost jobs for the first time in half a year according to MSNBC and the Times. The markets are down and home sales plummeted due to the expiration of federal tax credits for homebuyers.

In other news, journalist/polemicist Johann Hari, wrote a scathing post on Goldman Sachs and other banks. He accuses them of artificially inflating food prices through derivatives and causing the food crisis of 2006.