Writing Style Of Paul Krugman

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman argues in favor of progressive policies in order to solve many of America’s current problems. He does this by making his primary audience clear, using relatable emotion in his writings, and supporting his many claims with reliable sources and proven facts. Krugman writes consistently to provide his potential solutions to current problems and along the way, get his readers informed about them enough to advocate for their implementation. He writes in a frustrated tone for his similarly feeling audience, which to his readers shows that he is just like them and implies his beliefs and opinions are good representations of their sentiments.

One of the most pivotal factors for a writer’s success is their audience,

He achieves this level of relatability by choosing a specific tone and perspective in his articles. An example of such can be found in his article (Krugman 2023c) “Don’t Try to Appease Economic Terrorists” where he passive-aggressively states, “No, raising the debt limit doesn’t give the president free rein to spend whatever he wants. It simply allows the government to…” His point of view on raising the debt ceiling is assumed to be progressive given his past articles, and it is proved as such in this article. Not only does he state his opinion, he writes about how the approach some people in the Republican party take to the subject is wrong, and he disproves it. Later in the article, he ditches the passive-aggressive language and begins to show a more annoyed and frustrated tone. “maneuvers can postpone a crisis for several months. But what happens when those maneuvers are exhausted? The operations of the U.S. government will be disrupted — Republicans’ claims they have a way to “prioritize” payments, honoring some promises but not others, in ways that limit the damage are almost surely nonsense.” Not only does Krugman use quotation marks on the solutions Republicans have, he calls them out for being “nonsense.” This tone firmly implies his dislike for the Republican Party and its beliefs, which is something his left-wing audience can relate

Opinion articles aren’t generally thought to be taken for fact, and Krugman doesn’t suggest his are. However, using well-respected sources to support his beliefs helps Krugman not only maintain the credibility he has with his left-wing readers, but it also allows his arguments to hold more merit and sound more convincing to readers who may not agree with him on everything. A good example of this is seen in his article, (Krugman 2023b) “Will It Be Morning in Joe Biden’s America?” where he cites articles, indexes and studies from reliable sources including the University of Michigan, FiveThirtyEight, Manufacturing Dive, the United States House of Representatives Archives, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Ice Benchmark Administration, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. All of these sources are effectively used to support claims Krugman makes and it helps turn his opinion articles from more than just his thoughts on current events and more into persuasive pieces that have the capability to convince even some who lean to the right