Ulysse Denounces Use of Term “Voodoo Economics”

Associate Professor of Anthropology Gina Athena Ulysse, writing in The Huffington Post, denounced New York Times columnist Paul Krugman’s use of the term “voodoo economics” in a recent essay, calling it derogatory and outdated. She writes:

Indeed, with its direct references to the most archaic of tropes (black magic, cult, inward-looking or progress-resistant, vindictiveness) Krugman’s “Voodoo Economics, The Next Generation” shows a socially limited attachment to an outdated term. His column could not make it any clearer why the New York Times, which has been repeatedly petitioned over this terminology by concerned individuals and collectives over the years, needs to revise its style sheet. The Haitian Vodou religion is not Krugman’s voodoo.