For just a moment there, when the stock market had its big hiccup so long ago ? back in February, which now seems several winters ago ? Dr. Krugman could scarcely contain his glee. He was Mr. Happiness himself. At last his hour had come ! He immediately dashed off a fantasy dated February 27, 2008, in which he looked back?with ill-concealed satisfaction?at the dire fate he?d long foreseen for the American economy.

His happy vision began: ?The great market meltdown of 2007 began exactly a year ago, with a 9 percent fall in the Shanghai market, followed by a 416-point slide in the Dow. ?? That classic of a column foresaw disaster by now: ? For a couple of months after the shock of Feb. 27, markets oscillated wildly, soaring on bits of apparent good news, then plunging again. But by late spring, it was clear that the self-reinforcing cycle of complacency had given way to a self-reinforcing cycle of anxiety....? Translation: Come on, disaster ! This is a guy who lives for a repeat of 1929...

The New York Stock Exchange ought to put him on retainer, If only Paul Krugman would just keep writing about the coming End of It All, prosperity might be assured.