Paul Krugman wins the Nobel economics prize

Associated Press

STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Paul Krugman, the Princeton University scholar and New York Times columnist, won the Nobel prize in economics Monday for his analysis of how economies of scale can affect trade patterns and the location of economic activity.

Paul Krugman, in 2005 file photo
AP

To the public at large, Krugman is perhaps better known as a columnist than an economist. Krugman has been a harsh critic of the Bush administration and the Republican Party in The New York Times, where he writes a regular column and has a blog called “Conscience of a Liberal.”

Tore Ellingsen, a member of the prize committee, acknowledged that Krugman was an “opinion maker” but added that he was honored on the merits of his economic research, not his political commentary.

“We disregard everything except for the scientific merits,” Ellingsen told The Associated Press.

The 55-year-old American economist was the lone winner of the $1.4 million award and the latest in a string of American researchers to be honored. It was only the second time since 2000 that a single laureate won the prize, which is typically shared by two or three researchers.

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