Paul Robin Krugman (born February 28, 1953)
Is an American economist, Professor of Economics and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, Centenary Professor at the London School of Economics, Distinguished Scholar at the Luxembourg Income Study Center at the CUNY Graduate Center, and an op-ed columnist for The New York Times. In 2008, Krugman won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to New Trade Theory and New Economic Geography. According to the prize Committee, the prize was given for Krugman's work explaining the patterns of international trade and the geographic concentration of wealth, by examining the effects of economies of scale and of consumer preferences for diverse goods and services.
Krugman is known in academia for his work on international economics (including trade theory, economic geography, and international finance), liquidity traps, and currency crises. Krugman is ranked among the most influential economic thinkers in the US.
Krugman has written over 20 books, including scholarly works, textbooks and books for a more general audience, and has published over 200 scholarly articles in professional journals and edited volumes. He has also written more than 750 columns on economic and political issues for The New York Times, Fortune and Slate.
As a commentator, Krugman has written on a wide range of economic issues including income distribution, taxation, macroeconomics and international economics. Krugman considers himself a liberal, calling one of his books and his New York Times blog The Conscience of a Liberal. His popular commentary has attracted considerable comment, both positive and negative.
Personnel Life
Krugman was born to a Jewish family, the son of Anita and David Krugman (1924–2013). His paternal grandparents immigrated from Brest, Belarus, then Poland, to the United States in 1922. He was born in Albany, New York, and grew up in Nassau County. He graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in Bellmore.
According to Krugman, 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.
Krugman has been married twice. Robin L. Bergman, his first wife, is an award-winning designer/artist. He is currently married to Robin Wells, his second wife, an academic economist who has collaborated on textbooks with Krugman. Krugman reports that he is a distant relative of conservative journalist David Frum.[20] He has described himself as a "Loner. Ordinarily shy. Shy with individuals." He lives with his wife in Princeton, New Jersey.
On February 28, 2014, he announced that he will retire from Princeton University in June 2015, and become a professor at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and a distinguished scholar at the Graduate Center's Luxembourg Income Study Center.
