Krugman The Nobelian

The Shrill One Wins

Paul Krugman Wins Economics Nobel
By Catherine Rampell

Paul Krugman, a professor at Princeton University and an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times, was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences on Monday.

“It’s been an extremely weird day, but weird in a positive way,” Mr. Krugman said in an interview on his way to a Washington meeting for the Group of Thirty, an international body from the public and private sectors that discusses international economics. He said he was mostly “preoccupied with the hassles” of trying to make all his scheduled meetings today and answer a constantly-ringing cell phone.

Mr. Krugman received the award for his work on international trade and economic geography. In particular, the prize committee lauded his work for “having shown the effects of economies of scale on trade patterns and on the location of economic activity.” He has developed models that explain observed patterns of trade between countries, as well as what goods are produced where and why. Traditional trade theory assumes that countries are different and will exchange different kinds of goods with each other; Mr. Krugman’s theories have explained why worldwide trade is dominated by a few countries that are similar to each other, and why some countries might import the same kinds of goods that it exports.
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Overheard during the Nobel Q&A:

Mongol Economist: What is best in life?

Krugman: To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women.

Mongol Economist: And...?

Krugman: To apply some of the new insights coming through in industrial organization to international trade.

Mongol Economist: That is good! That is good.