Biography

Paul KRUGMAN

2009 ranking: 3

Paul Krugman

Krugman is the son of David and Anita Krugman and the grandson of Jewish immigrants from Brest-Litovsk. He grew up on Long Island in New York and graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in Bellmore. He is married to Robin Wells, his second wife, an academic economist who has collaborated on textbooks with Krugman. They have no children. They currently live in New York.

Krugman says that his interest in economics began with Isaac Asimov's Foundation novels, in which the social scientists of the future use "psychohistory" to attempt to save civilization. Since "psychohistory" in Asimov's sense of the word does not exist, Krugman turned to economics, which he considered the next best thing.

J. Peter Neary noted that "he has written on a wide range of topics, always combining one of the best prose styles in the profession with an ability to construct elegant, insightful and useful models." Neary added that "no discussion of his work could fail to mention his transition from Academic Superstar to Public Intellectual. Through his extensive writings, including a regular column for the New York Times, monographs and textbooks at every level, and books on economics and current affairs for the general public ... he has probably done more than any other writer to explain economic principles to a wide audience."Krugman has been described as the most controversial economist in his generation and according to Michael Tomasky since 1992 he has moved "from being a center-left scholar to being a liberal polemicist."

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