Yes there is a large group of people in the US who are scared and see the globalization and other realities as a threat. The US is not going to be / remain the richest and strongest power in the world. White people are not going to be the majority in the US.

A huge part of the Republican Party, like Christopher Hitchens has already said long ago, is a continuation of American isolationism. They are anti and want to go back to the time when everything was better. They stick their heads in the sand and are proud of it. They are already uncertain about everything. And people expect they will study the world and do that science thingie?

But why Krugman and why now? Did he just wake up? What's next? The conclusion that an interest rate of 1% at the central bank is a bad idea?