Paul Krugman wins the Nobel Prize in economics!
Any economist, whatever his or her political leanings, will tell you that Krugman is one of the greatest economists of his generation. His contributions to trade and economic geography are legendary. Everybody should also read his latest book, in which he laments the rising inequality and the stagnant median wages of the new gilded era, underpinned by false virtues of the Reagan revolution. Krugman often sets trends– let us hope he prompts the economics profession to focus more on these issues.
Rare among economists of his caliber, he writes extremely well, and is able to explain complicated theories and relationships in a highly accessible manner. Even more rate among economists, he has the virtue of being right more often than not! He saw clearly the problems in Japan. He called out the Enron-manipulation of energy markets in California, long before the truth came out, and he was attacked for being a conspiracy-minded kook for doing so. More recently, he was among the first to realize that the Paulson plan needed to be underpinned by a recapitalization program. And, of course, he saw who Bush really was from the outset when the rest of the country maintained its teenage-girl-like infatuation.
A well-deserved award. The real surprise is (i) that it came so early in his career; (ii) that it was a solo award– the buzz suggested he would share it with Jagdish Bhagwati and Avinash Dixit.
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