Congratulations to Paul Krugman

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics to Paul Krugman "for his analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity.'' Read the Bloomberg news story here and keep up with Marginal Revolution's excellent commentary on the underlying contributions that merit the award starting here and here. 

It is no secret from my blogging that Paul Krugman is not my favorite economist, based on the way he overstates the economic case for his policy arguments in such a public forum.  (You can read all of the posts from Vox Baby here and find references to him on CG&G here.)  However, Krugman's work on strategic trade theory was original and compelling and was widely regarded, even decades ago, to be of the caliber to one day merit the award.  That day is today.  Nothing regarding Krugman's public persona, cultivated intensively over the last 15 years or so, is relevant to the award.