There's Going To Be A Historic 1-Hour Battle Between Paul Krugman And Joe Scarborough

Dave Shankbone via Flickr

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough and Paul Krugman will debate the debt and deficit tonight in a segment on PBS.

From Politico's Mike Allen in Playbook:

MUST-SEE TV! Tonight on "Charlie Rose," a smackdown between Joe Scarborough and Paul Krugman. After arguing over the debt on their blogs, they're taking it to the airwaves, for the full hour. Tapes today on Charlie's legendary set at Bloomberg HQ in Manhattan. Airs 11 p.m. on WNET in NYC, and WETA and WHUT in D.C., and 200+ other PBS affiliates.

Scarborough and Krugman have gone back and forth over the past month-plus over whether the deficit is as big deal as Scarborough says it is. In mid-February, Scarborough memorably dismissed Krugman and other like-minded pundits' usage of charts as something that "liberals make up on their mom's PowerPoint." Scarborough also called Krugman as extreme on the deficit as the NRA's Wayne LaPierre is on guns.

One of the problems with Scarborough's argument, as Krugman and others have noted, is that none of the important people who agree with Scarborough are mainstream economists.

(H/T Dylan Byers)