Neki hrvatski mediji i određene javne osobe su pomahnitalo skočili na Krugmanovog Nobela, sugerirajući kroz bombastične fraze i naslove poput “Bushov kritičar dobitnike Nobelove za ekonomiju” ekonomski slabo upućenoj javnosti da je nagrada dodjeljena zbog njegovih NYT kolumni u kojima kritizira ekonomski rekord Predsjednika Busha. Bezveze. Uz to, nitko se nije potrudio malo produbiti objašnjenje za što to je to točno Krugman, kao jedan od najmlađih dobitnika ikad i sam, dobio Nobela. (Smatra se da dodjela Nobela jednom znanstveniku donosi veći prestiž od onog podjeljenog na tri djela.) Avinash Dixit sa Vox bloga ima najbolje objašnjenje za što je Krugman dobio nagradu i za što nije.
In the last 10 years, Krugman has achieved fame in a much larger arena with his columns in the New York Times. These offer strong views on economics and politics, and they have been harshly critical of the Bush administration on most issues. It is no wonder that they attract adulation from readers who share his views on these matters and hatred from the other side. The former delight in his Nobel Prize, and the latter are shocked and dismayed by it, but both these reactions are mistaken. The prize has nothing to do with the Op Ed columns and would have come to Krugman just the same if he had never written a single one of them. The prize celebrates his achievements in science, not in the policy arena. It is therefore important to summarise and clarify exactly what those achievements are.
Cronomy.org 