Why Are So Many People Laughing At Paul Krugman?

I'll have more next week but for now I am reminded of Saul Alinsky and #5 of his Rules for Radicals:

Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It’s hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.

Or, as they might have said in Mayor Daley's Chicago, ca. 1968.

The whole world is laughing, the whole world is laughing.*

*Mayor Daley had the best line of the convention. Referring to the clash between the rioters and the cops, he said:

"The policeman isn't there to create disorder.
The policeman is there to preserve disorder."

The Mayor was a regular Mr. Malaprop. On another occasion he was supposed to say:

"We shall reach greater and greater plateaus of achievement."

It came out as:

"We shall reach greater and greater platitudes of achievement."

Prompting his press secretary to tell the reporters:
"Don't print what he said, Print what he meant."