Nobel laureate economist Paul Krugman borrows from the TV show "South Park" to castigate those warning about the scourge of high inflation.

He focuses on the term "derp," which frequently is uttered on the show. What's derp? "People who keep saying the same thing no matter how much evidence accumulates that it’s completely wrong," Krugman writes in The New York Times.

And how does derp apply to inflation? It's all about "fear mongering," Krugman says.

"It was, perhaps, forgivable to warn about runaway inflation some years ago, when the Federal Reserve was just beginning its efforts to help a depressed economy. After all, everyone makes bad predictions now and then," he figures.

"But making the same wrong prediction year after year, never acknowledging past errors or considering the possibility that you have the wrong model of how the economy works — well, that’s derp." Consumer prices slid 0.2 percent in the 12 months through April.

Not surprisingly, Krugman views Republicans as the perpetrators of this dreaded inflation derp.

Meanwhile, John Tamny, editor of Real Clear Markets, says we may be enduring serious economic problems, but the can-do attitude of former President Reagan and former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher — along with their policies — would go a long way toward making things better, says.

"Government is a problem today, and it's the source of relatively slow economic growth for both countries," he writes. "Taxes are too high, regulations are too intrusive, trade could be freer." Government spending also is a problem.

Then there's the issue of leadership.

"Barack Obama and David Cameron don't exactly remind us of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. Life and economic opportunity could surely be better, and they would be if individuals like Reagan and Thatcher were running the proverbial show," Tamny argues.

But there's good news too. Reagan and Thatcher confronted much bigger problems than their counterparts today, he maintains. "Reagan and Thatcher would mock what has so many so pessimistic today."

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