Bryan Caplan pronounces Scott Sumner the master of Krugman exegesis for these two gems:
Krugman (in 2005): And the backlash [against neoliberalism] has reached our closest neighbor. Mexico’s current president, Vicente Fox, a former Coca-Cola executive, is a firm believer in free markets. But his administration is widely considered a failure.
Sumner: So what is Krugman saying here? You might think; “Isn’t it obvious? He’s saying that Fox implemented free market reforms and they failed.” If so, you underestimate the subtlety of Mr. Krugman. He didn’t say that Fox implemented any free market reforms at all. He said he was a firm believer in free markets. And who could dispute the proposition that mere belief in free markets, if not actually implemented, does not produce economic miracles? How dare you assume he claimed Fox implemented such policies!
[...]
The fact is that Mr. Fox did not implement free market reforms. Why not? Because the Mexican legislature was firmly controlled by the opposition PRI, who had no interest in helping him. Think about it. If you wanted to say economic reforms failed, why not just come out and say it. Why refer to a leader who believed in market reforms, when it takes no more ink to say a leader who implemented market reforms.
Krugman: Latin Americans are the most disillusioned. Through much of the 1990′s, they bought into the “Washington consensus” — which we should note came from Clinton administration officials as well as from Wall Street economists and conservative think tanks — which said that privatization, deregulation and free trade would lead to economic takeoff. Instead, growth remained sluggish, inequality increased, and the region was struck by a series of economic crises.
Sumner: At first glance you might think; “Aha, Sumner, there’s your smoking gun. He does oppose the neoliberal agenda of privatization, deregulation and free trade, or at the very least thinks it failed. Just as you said. You’ve finally nailed him.” Not so fast. He didn’t say these policies were tried and failed, he said they were recommended by American officials, and he also said Latin America had not done well. But he never actually said the policies were tried and failed.