Economist and New York Times opinion columnist Paul Krugman just won the Nobel Prize for economics. Despite his controversial opinions in the Times, he really does deserve this award. I was going to explain why, but Arnold Kling does a much better job of it.
His theories on international trade tend to recommend more government intervention than traditional trade theory did, but they also explain anomalies that the traditional theory couldn’t account for. Even so, he was careful to point out that many populist demands for trade protectionism do not meet the requirements of his theory.
Krugman is responsible for my own interests in economics. I read an article about him in some magazine, and decided to read one of his books. I can’t remember which one it was—I’ve read several more since then—but it was back when he wrote about economics more than politics. I found it fascinating, and I kept on buying more economics books.
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