Monday, October 13, 2008

Bush critic wins Nobel Prize.

Paul Krugman is an economist? From the Boston Globe:

PRINCETON, N.J.—Paul Krugman, whose relentless criticism of the Bush administration includes opposition to the $700 billion financial bailout, won the Nobel prize in economics Monday for his work on international trade patterns.

The Princeton University professor and New York Times columnist is the best-known American economist to win the prize in decades.

The Nobel committee commended Krugman's work on global trade, beginning with a 10-page paper in 1979 that knit together two fields of study, helping foster a better understanding of why countries produce similar products and why people move from the small towns to cities.

Krugman (pronounced KROOG-man) is best known for his unabashedly liberal column in the Times, which he has written since 1999. In it, he has said Republicans are becoming "the party of the stupid" and that the economic meltdown made GOP presidential nominee John McCain "more frightening now than he was a few weeks ago."

But at a news conference, Krugman said he doesn't think he won the prize because of his political views.

"Nobel prizes are given to intellectuals," he said. "A lot of intellectuals are anti-Bush."

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