Krugman Gets 2008 Nobel in Economics

In a surprise twist, Paul Krugman (Princeton) was announced the winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in economics. Surprise not because he does not deserve it - Krugman's work on trade theory is widely acknowledged - but because the Nobel committee passed over Jagdish Bhagwati (Colombia), who has lobbied for it for years. As Professor Bhagwati's main work is also on trade theory, it makes it unlikely he will get the Nobel any time soon. (Bhagwati was also Krugman's teacher at MIT.) This announcement also dents the hopes of Anne Krueger, another top trade theorist.

What is perhaps most interesting about Krugman's choice is that he stopped doing economics almost 10 years ago and has instead been a columnist for the New York Times. This is good news: shows that you can have a second life and still get dividends on the first.