Paul Krugman
An economist who transformed global trade theory and became a powerful public voice dissecting political failures and financial crises.
Born 1953 (age 73)·American economist·Birthday: February 28·Baby Boomers
Biography
Paul Krugman operates in two worlds with equal force: the rarefied air of economic theory and the noisy arena of public debate. As a young academic, he upended conventional wisdom with his 'new trade theory,' which explained why similar countries trade so much by incorporating concepts like economies of scale, work that later earned him a Nobel Prize. He possesses a rare talent for translating complex economic ideas into clear, compelling prose, a skill he deployed first in scholarly texts and then for a mass audience as a longtime New York Times columnist. There, he became a steadfast and often scathing critic of economic policies he viewed as fraudulent or cruel, from the George W. Bush tax cuts to the austerity measures after the 2008 crisis. Krugman's career is a testament to the idea that an economist can be both a rigorous model-builder and an essential, argumentative voice for clarity in public life.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Paul was born in 1953, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Paul Was Born
The biggest hits of 1953
#1 Movie
Peter Pan
Best Picture
From Here to Eternity
#1 TV Show
I Love Lucy
Paul's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1953Born
DNA structure discovered by Watson and Crick
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,750Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Song from Moulin Rouge" — Percy FaithBest Picture: From Here to Eternity
1958Started school
NASA founded
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Volare" — Domenico ModugnoBest Picture: Gigi
1966Became a teenager
Star Trek premieres on television
Gas: $0.32/galHome: $14,200Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"The Ballad of the Green Berets" — SSgt Barry SadlerBest Picture: A Man for All Seasons
1969Could drive
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1971Could vote
Voting age lowered to 18 in the US
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $18,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Joy to the World" — Three Dog NightBest Picture: The French Connection
1974Turned 21
Nixon resigns the presidency
Gas: $0.53/galHome: $22,600Min wage: $2.00/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"The Way We Were" — Barbra StreisandBest Picture: The Godfather Part II
1983Turned 30
Internet adopts TCP/IP, creating the modern internet
Gas: $1.16/galHome: $57,700Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Every Breath You Take" — The PoliceBest Picture: Terms of Endearment
1993Turned 40
European Union officially established
Gas: $1.11/galHome: $86,600Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"I Will Always Love You" — Whitney HoustonBest Picture: Schindler's List
2003Turned 50
US invades Iraq; Human Genome Project completed
Gas: $1.59/galHome: $146,000Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"In Da Club" — 50 CentBest Picture: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2013Turned 60
Edward Snowden reveals NSA surveillance programs
Gas: $3.53/galHome: $152,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Thrift Shop" — Macklemore & Ryan LewisBest Picture: 12 Years a Slave
2023Turned 70
ChatGPT goes mainstream; Israel-Hamas war begins
Gas: $3.52/galHome: $361,600Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"Flowers" — Miley CyrusBest Picture: Oppenheimer
2026Age 73 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2008 for his foundational work on new trade theory and new economic geography.
- Authored 'The Great Unraveling,' a bestselling collection of columns that critiqued the economic policies of the Bush administration.
- His academic paper 'Increasing Returns and Economic Geography' became a cornerstone of modern spatial economics.
- Won the John Bates Clark Medal in 1991, awarded to the most promising economist under forty.
- His New York Times blog, 'The Conscience of a Liberal,' was a major platform for economic and political commentary for over a decade.
Did You Know?
He wrote a popular economics textbook, now in its 10th edition, co-authored with his wife Robin Wells.
He initially predicted the internet would have no greater economic impact than the fax machine, a forecast he has publicly recanted.
He is an avid science fiction fan and has written essays on the economics found in Isaac Asimov's Foundation series.
He keeps a blog primarily dedicated to dissecting bad arguments in public policy, not just promoting his own views.
Before the Times, he wrote for Slate magazine and Fortune.
“There are two kinds of people in this world: those who understand that you can’t cure a depressed economy by giving people even less money, and Republicans.”
