Paul Krugman: Romney would be worse than Hoover

(CBS News) -- Mitt Romney in the White House would be worse for the struggling U.S. economy than Herbert Hoover was in the wake of the Great Depression, nobel laureate and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman charged on Monday.

"Romney is saying let's do exactly what we did under the Bush administration and this time hope for different results," Krugman said in an interview with "CBS This Morning," adding that his policies would "make Herbert Hoover look good by comparison."

"He is saying let's do exactly what they did in Ireland which has led to 15 percent unemployment and 30 percent youth unemployment and that will lead to great results here," Krugman said skeptically.

Krugman says policymakers in Washington have it backwards. Textbook economics say the economy needs more spending now, not less.

"You look at what's happening in Europe and you say, we just learned austerity is not the answer," Krugman said.

"The right thing is to spend more. Right now, you know, we have a long-term budget problem but now is not the time to be slashing. Now is not the time to be laying off school teachers. Now is not the time to be doing public works, rehiring those school teachers, to get this economy moving again," he said.

The Princeton professor also slammed Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke, a former Princeton professor himself, for being too afraid of inflation.

The central bank, which sets interest rates, needs "to say, we're not concerned about inflation. 3 percent, 4 percent is not a problem. We're willing and would like to see a little inflation to get this economy moving," Krugman added.