Paul Samuelson comments on Krugman’s Nobel Prize win:
“I praise today’s prize as being deserving and even overdue, but more than that I reproach the Pulitzer committee, which owed him at least a couple of prizes in the past,” said Paul A. Samuelson, a previous winner of the Nobel in economic science. “Paul Krugman is the only columnist in the United States who has had it right on almost every count from the beginning.”
Indeed, while it is great that Krugman has been recognized for his academic work, recognition for Krugman’s work in his New York Times columns is overdue. Just because Krugman’s columns upset the right wing, does not mean his writing should be considered controversial. As Samuelson notes, Krugman has been out in front on the major issues during the last 10 years. He was right about:
- the tech stock bubble
- the Bush tax cuts (the national debt clock in New York City has run out of digits)
- the Iraq war
- the housing bubble and shadow banking system, which are responsible for the current financial crisis
So, conservatives may not like Paul Krugman because he hurts their feelings, but the fact is, Krugman has consistently been right. Meanwhile, delusional supply-siders like Larry Kudlow denied the existence of the NASDAQ bubble and the housing bubble, while praising the “Bush boom.”
Krugman has taken positions that have earned him scorn from conservatives, but time and again, Krugman has been proven right. It is time Krugman is recognized for his extraordinary and influential writing for the Times.
