In an awkward moment during the Take Back the American Dream conference, liberal activists applauded when MSNBC’s Chris Hayes raised a thought experiment in which New York Times columnist Paul Krugman was dictator with the ability to impose his preferred economic policies. …

“What are the things we should be doing if we waved a magic wand, made Paul Krugman dictator for a period of time?” Hayes asked.

Enough of the crowd responded with shouts and applause that a clearly uncomfortable Hayes had to calm them by clarifying, “Dictatorship meant as a thought experiment, it’s not something to cheer.”