{"id":1290,"date":"2026-06-09T14:07:59","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T14:07:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1290"},"modified":"2026-06-09T14:07:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T14:07:59","slug":"nobel-economist-warns-maga-egos-are-driving-americas-decline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1290","title":{"rendered":"Nobel economist warns MAGA egos are driving America\u2019s decline"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

As Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman<\/u> pointed out on Tuesday, President Donald Trump keeps making decisions that have experts \u201cmystified\u201d by their illogic. These actions, writes Krugman, are not only motivated by little more than \u201cfragile MAGA egos,\u201d but are effectively \u201cundermining America.\u201d<\/p>\n

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For example, Trump\u2019s approach to drone warfare \u2014 or lack thereof. As Krugman writes, \u201cDrones have rapidly transformed modern war. The U.S. military, the most sophisticated, best supplied force in history, has been humiliated by Iran, largely thanks to Iran\u2019s effective use of inexpensive drones to menace shipping, energy production, and even U.S. bases. Meanwhile, Ukraine\u2019s growing superiority in drone warfare is increasingly giving it the upper hand over Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this context, \u201cshouldn\u2019t the United States be eager to make a drone deal with Ukraine, benefiting from its technology and expertise? Apparently not. The Hill<\/u> reports that Donald Trump has been dragging his feet on such a deal, quoting U.S. military analysts who say that they don\u2019t understand the delay and that they are \u2018mystified.\u2019 But I assume that they\u2019re being disingenuous and prefer to avoid saying the obvious. In fact, Trump\u2019s unwillingness to make a deal that would clearly benefit America\u2019s national interest is no mystery at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s \u201cTrump\u2019s virulent opposition to green energy.”<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past few years,\u201d explains Krugman, \u201cradical declines in the cost of solar power, wind power, and batteries \u2014 which solve the problem that the sun doesn\u2019t always shine and the wind doesn\u2019t always blow \u2014 have made renewables the most cost-effective way to generate electricity. By contrast, coal is completely unviable. Yet Trump is trying to block renewable energy projects any way he can and has just invoked wartime authority to spend $700 million subsidizing<\/u> new power plants using \u2018clean, beautiful\u2019 coal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Krugman explains that part of Trump\u2019s motivation is financial, as fossil fuel producers put big money into Trump\u2019s 2024 campaign. At the same time, however, \u201cclean energy has become a bogeyman in the culture wars: mining and burning coal are considered \u2018manly\u2019 activities, while renewable energy is portrayed as woke and effeminate. Real men don\u2019t worry about black lung and airborne particulates, let alone climate change. So a combination of big money and fragile male egos drives Green Derangement Syndrome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Getting back to drone warfare, Krugman suggests that Trump\u2019s hesitancy toward the technology stems from a combination of money and male ego. <\/p>\n

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On one hand, \u201cAmerica has a huge, highly profitable defense industry, dedicated to a suite of technologies that are rapidly being rendered obsolete, as $4 million Patriot missiles, that take years to build, are being used to shoot down $35,000 Shahed drones that can be manufactured in months. So it wouldn\u2019t be surprising if defense-industry interests are playing a significant role in the Trump administration\u2019s refusal to admit that the rules of war have changed \u2014 the same way that fossil fuel companies have campaigned against the new realities of energy technology. After all, a deal with drone-savvy Ukrainians would mean less money going to US defense contractors.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, \u201crecognition of the drone revolution in warfare by Trump and his inner circle would require that they abandon their fantasy of macho military power. Pete Hegseth has been purging the military of capable officers<\/u> \u2014 especially Blacks and women \u2014 he considers insufficiently loyal to Donald Trump. Beyond loyalty tests, however, he has exalted the importance of \u2018warrior ethos<\/u>\u2019 and physical fitness, as if he were leading the 300 Spartans rather than a high-tech military in an age of drones and electronic warfare.\u201d<\/p>\n

Krugman says this is the same logic driving Trump\u2019s other outdated military endeavors. As Krugman writes, the president \u201cis in love with big, expensive weapons as symbols of virility and power. He\u2019s still pushing for giant \u2018Trump-class<\/u>\u2019 battleships, even though they would be sitting ducks in a modern war. Just ask the Ukrainians, who have used missiles and naval drones to force Russia\u2019s once-vaunted Black Sea Fleet<\/u> to cower in a fortified refuge. But Trump doesn\u2019t want to give up his fantasies.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Krugman\u2019s estimation, \u201cThere is no mystery about why Trump refuses to make a drone deal with Ukraine. Never mind the national interest. In military strategy as in energy policy, Trump is betraying America in the service of money and machismo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Trump fighting to hoard billions from tariffs despite Supreme Court knock-out<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman pointed out on Tuesday, President Donald Trump keeps making decisions that have experts \u201cmystified\u201d by their illogic. These actions, writes Krugman, are not only motivated by little more than \u201cfragile MAGA egos,\u201d but are effectively \u201cundermining America….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nNobel economist warns MAGA egos are driving America\u2019s decline - Next Address America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1290\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nobel economist warns MAGA egos are driving America\u2019s decline - Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman pointed out on Tuesday, President Donald Trump keeps making decisions that have experts \u201cmystified\u201d by their illogic. 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