Krugman: U.S. Students 'Could Learn A Little Bit' From Violent Riots in UK, France

It's not quite leftist academic Frances Fox Piven calling for violent Greece-style riots in America. But in an interview with the University of Oklahoma's student newspaper (he was in town February 22 for a talk), Paul Krugman, respected economist turned partisan liberal columnist, suggested American college students should pick up some tips from students in London and Paris about fighting public spending cuts.

The Daily: You mentioned how children and students suffer from cuts to public agencies. What advice would you give students to impact the political scene?

Krugman: "Well, you know, maybe we could learn a little bit from British students or French students who actually demonstrated against these cuts. What happens, we've got actually in America, the seniors are very noisy. Everybody knows you don't dare cut programs for the elderly, so let's cut programs for the youth. If we can change that, then we'd do a little better."

And what exactly would we learn from British and French students? Violent protest tactics, for one.

From a December 10, 2010 Times report during the riots in London that Krugman suggested American students emulate:

But violent student protests in central London, including an attack on a car carrying Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, to the theater, provided a stark measure of growing public resistance.

From an October 22, 2010 Times report from Paris headlined "French Leader Vows to Punish Violent Protesters."

Referring to several days of clashes between the police and protesters in Lyon, which continued on Thursday, Mr. Sarkozy said the 'troublemakers will not have the last word in a democracy, a republic.'"

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