U.S. economist Paul Krugman has won the 2008 Nobel Prize for economics.
The Royal Swedish Academy Monday said it is honoring Krugman, a
Princeton University professor and columnist for "The New York Times,"
for his analysis of global trade patterns and urbanization.
Krugman has argued that mass production of goods allows a small group
of countries with similar economies to dominate international trade. He
notes that globalized trade also leads to concentration in cities --
and he has warned that poorer countries may lack the infrastructure to
support their new urban populations.
Krugman is a sharp critic of the Bush administration, arguing its
policies have helped lead to the current global financial crisis.
Krugman has described the situation as terrifying, saying it bears some
resemblance to the Great Depression that crippled the U.S. economy in
the 1930s.
He also compared the situation to the financial crisis that hit Asia in the 1990s.
Krugman will collect his one-point-four million dollar prize in Sweden on December 10th.
The economics prize was established in the 1960s in memory of Alfred
Nobel. It is not part of the original group of awards set out in
Nobel's will.
The prize is the last of six Nobel prizes to be awarded this year.