Krugman and Shoelaces

We all need shoelaces. So how important are shoelaces? A simple way to find out.

1) Take Krugman's recent post on bank failures. 2) Copy the entire post into a word processor. 3) Find all references to banks and replace it with a reference to shoelace firms. 4) Read the result. You will see a very sound argument for saving the shoelace firms.

Where did I learn this trick? Venture capital folks used it when they heard a product pitch. If they could substitute Steam Engine for the actual product being proposed, and the pitch sounded just as plausible, they didn't invest.