Paul Krugman, Princeton University professor and NY Times op-ed columnist, was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics today. The Nobel prize committee gave the award for Krugman's "analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity." In other terms, he's looked at how economics of scale affects free trade and globalization (and urbanization). He told the Times this morning, "It’s been an extremely weird day, but weird in a positive way."
Bloomberg News notes that Krugman is a "self-proclaimed liberal" who has "regularly taken [President] Bush to task" in his columns, like the May 18, 2007 one where he wrote, "Mr. Bush has degraded our government and undermined the rule of law. He has led us into strategic disaster and moral squalor."
Here's further explanation of Krugman's work from the Nobel committee, his columnist page at the Times, his Times blog, and the Unofficial Paul Krugman Archive. Krugman also said about the win in the context of his column, "For readers of the column, maybe they will read a little more carefully when I’m being economistic, or maybe have a little more tolerance when I’m being boring."
