Greg Mankiw speaks out

Here is a very recent interview.

On Karl Rove: "To the extent there was a political constraint, it wasn’t from Karl’s shop, it was from Congress."

On the Bush administration: "The policy process worked extremely well."

On the trade deficit and savings: "I don’t think we really have a good sense of what the limits are, especially since we’re growing so much faster than most of the world. This might sound glib, but it might be fruitful to think about immigration and the trade deficit as reflecting the same thing–capital and labor both want to flee here because we’re the most productive economy.

On the other hand, while the trade deficit isn’t a problem in itself, it may be a symptom of a problem. The problem is that Americans aren’t saving enough. I don’t think there’s a single magic bullet to increase national saving, but I do think a switch from an income tax to a consumption tax would help."

On Paul Krugman: No love lost, read for yourself.

Fascinating all around.