But Krugman Said It Would Be Easy

“Deflecting Killer Asteroid Could Be Geopolitical Nightmare,” Space.com reports:

Humanity has the technical know-how to deflect a killer asteroid away from Earth, but whether the world can come together to pull it off in time is another matter.

A looming asteroid strike would be a global problem demanding a complex and coordinated response, experts say. Not only would nations need to set aside their differences and work together, but some would have to put their citizens at increased risk for the good of the planet, agreeing to allow the space rock to be steered in their direction from the predicted impact site.

“There are a million geopolitical questions that are really, really, really tough,” said Rusty Schweickart, co-founder and chairman emeritus of the B612 Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping protect Earth from asteroid strikes.

Really? But Paul Krugman told me that this was just the sort of cosmic challenge America needed to jumpstart its moribund economy. And build high speed rail!