Nobel-winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman recently inveighed against "libertarian populism" by attacking Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), a politician who is neither libertarian nor populist. That's par for the course for Krugman, whom, Nick Gillespie notes, long ago ascended to that realm of top-tier punditry where you no longer even have to engage your self-chosen adversaries.

You can take or leave some or all…libertarian populism—what sort of crazy, pie-eyed dreamer not only thinks that "second homes shouldn't get a mortgage deduction" but that the deduction for first homes "should be capped at $500,000" and then reduced more in the future?!?!—but to confuse it with Paul Ryan's Path to Prosperity is a sign that Krugman needs to get out more often. Intellectual shut-ins are a dime a dozen these days, and they all stink just as bad as the next one.