Paul Krugman wins Nobel Prize in economics

Princeton University professor, New York Times columnist, unabashed liberal and giant of the economics profession Paul Krugman has won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for "his analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity". This stems from his development of "new trade theory" and "new economic geography".

The FT has a good, brief summary of these theories here.

Any student of IPE, economics, IR, or finance knows Krugman well, and this recognition will come as no surprise. What did surprise me was the Nobel committee's reference to his status as an "opinion maker". This can be interpreted in two ways: as a reference to his popular status, prolific writing, and persuasive arguments, or to his very partisan political commentary. Given the politicized climate surrounding Al Gore's award, it is odd that the committee would allude to Krugman's political views, especially just weeks before a presidential election in which he has been a very vocal critic of one of the candidates (you can guess which one).

I am not one of these disingenuous Nobel purists who believes that prizes should only be awarded strictly on intellectual merit (these criticisms usually come from political critics of the individual winners, not defenders of the integrity of the prize itself). I do, however, worry that by referencing this aspect of Krugman's work, it provides the context for Krugman's political critics (cue Bill O'Reilly) to undermine his achievement. Krugman is highly deserving of the prize, and his political views shouldn't cloud any recognition of his important and groundbreaking research.

We are living through a period in which thoughtful defenders of free trade (tempered, in Krugman's case) and instructors on the complexity of globalization are largely absent in the popular discourse. This is why Krugman's ability to explain complex economic and political trends in layman's terms is so important. This is probably what the committee meant by the phrase "opinion maker". However, some will ascribe a political element to this award, or be unwilling to separate his political commentary from his economic scholarship, and that is unfortunate.
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Case in point: even Reuters can't separate the two Krugmans.

UPDATE: Donald Luskin initiates the backlash. This is one prediction I am disappointed to have been right on. (Via FP Passport)

UPDATE2: the FT is totally plagiarizing me! Shameful, pink lady...