One of the people whom I deeply respect, and his blog probably is a close third to (Brad Delong’s blog and Marginal Revolutions Blog) that I frequently link to, (the post that this follows was a link from his NYT blog).
I’d be lying if I said that I understood beyond the general principles his work on trade, but prof Krugman always seems to speak his mind, and he has a way of explaining things that endears him to his readers.
from AFP :
US economist Paul Krugman wins Nobel Economics Prize
STOCKHOLM (AFP) — US economist Paul Krugman, a prolific New York Times columnist and fierce critic of Washington’s economic policies, won the Nobel Economics Prize on Monday, the Nobel jury said.
Krugman, 55, a Princeton University professor, has formulated a new trade analysis theory which determines the effects of free trade and globalisation, as well as the driving forces behind worldwide urbanisation, the citation said.
Speaking to Swedish public television immediately after the prize announcement, Krugman said the award “obviously will seriously warp my next few days.”
“I hope that two weeks from now, I’m back to being pretty much the same person I was before,” he said, adding: “I’m a great believer in continuing to do work. I hope it doesn’t change things too much.”
The Nobel Economics Prize has been especially closely watched this year owing to the ongoing global financial crisis.
A number of experts had predicted that the worldwide crisis would, in the future at least, prompt the Nobel committee to shift its focus further away from the heavily prized liberal market theories widely blamed for the mess.
And by awarding Krugman, a critic of unfettered free-market policies who has focused heavily on globalisation and the developing world, the jury has indeed decided to confront major, civilisation-changing issues.