The wonderful Paul Krugman, whose comments on the economic situation appear every week in the New York Times and are read avidly by self and friends, has just been awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics.

Not for his lucid prose in his opeds, however. He gained it in recognition of his groundbreaking “analysis of how economies of scale can affect trade patterns and the location of economic activity.”

In the citation, the Swedish Academy says:”What are the effects of free trade and globalization? What are the driving forces behind worldwide urbanization? Paul Krugman has formulated a new theory to answer these questions. He has thereby integrated the previously disparate research fields of international trade and economic geography.”

He has also published an Important Book called The Conscience of a Liberal (Norton, 2007)