A Portrait of Paul Krugman

Of the many brilliant economists that emerge from the singularly enviable training of the American academies for economics, I am most in awe of Paul Krugman. And my admiration preceded his elevation to Nobel laureate status so I have some justification in claiming that I could see the inevitability of that prize. In reading the common blogs by ideologues and other party apologists who appropriate libertarianism as necessary, one would think that Paul Krugman never went through a first principles course in economics. It is possibly because ideology and political biases often trump rational thought and makes people more interested in attacking the man and not bad ideas.

Writing in the New Yorker Magazine, Larissa MacFarquhar has painted a sharp and immensely entertaining portrait of Paul Krugman based on a visit to the professor's home in St. Croix. While the title suggests that it is about the formation of some of Prof. Krugman's strong political ideas in the United States, I think that it presents a clear picture of the household of two scholars with solid ideas and who are accomplished in every respect. Consider that they both have graduate degrees from distinguished schools of economics, have taught in such schools, been consultants to corporations, published a text book in their subject and one bears the rare distinction of a Nobel prize in Economic Sciences.

This portrait reveals that paul's political ideas and his articles in the NYT arose from a reflection of the circumstances of the country and the denial of some facts that were evident to him. This created the need to understand and comment on how the politically dominant ideas influence society and the economy.

Paul's strident attacks of the Republican Party and its dominant paradigm makes him a loathsome target for party operators and their intellectual foot soldiers. What often gets lost in the debate is the fact that Prof. Krugman has a set of very solid intellectual credentials and an unrivalled portfolio of ideas that changed the field. The article summarizes some of these contributions in diverse areas starting with his understanding of financial crises, international trade and geography and trade. Some of these findings are now so embedded in the subject that they are taken as having been a part of the theory all along.

As would be expected of an elaborate article like this, the author would eventually ask his subject whether there are other contributions of consequence that are expected to emerge from him. Paul Krugman goes back to the history of humanity where poverty has been almost a fixed feature. His question though is why with such stability in poverty among humans do some states suddenly begin a relentless growth path toward prosperity. My hope is that Paul Krugman rediscovers the obsession that is required to fully answer this profound question.