IN PRINT: Krugman Weighs in on Jobs Crisis

Last weekend, Nobel prizewinning economics professor Paul Krugman took part in a panel discussion on the jobs crisis that's hit Newark and other New Jersey cities particularly hard. Whether you agree with his views on the economy or not, you have to admit he's pretty good with metaphors. A few favorites from his talk:

• On the financial crisis and mounting consumer debt: "It was our Wile E. Coyote moment. We were going along just fine until we looked down and realized we'd run off a cliff."
• On Occupy Wall Street: "The state of discussion was so surreal, the emperor had no clothes, yet no one was saying it. And then a fairly ragtag group started camping out in a few parks in major cities, and it's like the country woke up."
• And then there was the whole business with aliens. After explaining that the surge in demand accompanying World War II is what finally ended the Great Depression, he suggested a modern-day equivalent - defense against an intergalactic invasion. Turns out, he's kind of a fan of the belligerent extraterrestrials metaphor. According to this CNN interview, a massive buildup of outer space defenses could end the current crisis in as little as 18 months.

More on the jobs panel here.