Paul Krugman (columnist) influenced by _Foundation_
Nancy Lebovitz
Krugman was born and raised on Long Island, where he enjoyed what he
describes as an "utterly conventional" suburban childhood. After reading
Isaac Asimov's classic Foundation novels, he nurtured a secret desire to
be one of Asimov's "psychohistorians"--futuristic social scientists who
could predict the course of human history. At Yale during the 1970s, he
did the next best thing, majoring in economics under the tutelage of
economist William Nordhaus. Like Nordhaus, Krugman attended graduate
school at MIT; in 1977, Krugman joined the economics faculty at Yale.
Within a few years, he had begun to help think through what would later
be called "new trade theory," which holds that an increasing proportion
of trade can be explained by technological innovation rather than
countries' comparative advantage (i.e., in natural resources). Krugman's
work on the subject cemented his academic reputation and launched him
into the ranks of rising young stars in the field.
--
Nancy Lebovitz na...@netaxs.com www.nancybuttons.com 100 new slogans
I want to move to theory. Everything works in theory.
Ike Thieme
Nancy Lebovitz wrote:
> <http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0212.confessore.html>
>
> Krugman was born and raised on Long Island, where he enjoyed what he
> describes as an "utterly conventional" suburban childhood. After reading
> Isaac Asimov's classic Foundation novels, he nurtured a secret desire to
> be one of Asimov's "psychohistorians"--futuristic social scientists who
> could predict the course of human history. At Yale during the 1970s, he
> did the next best thing, majoring in economics under the tutelage of
> economist William Nordhaus. Like Nordhaus, Krugman attended graduate
> school at MIT; in 1977, Krugman joined the economics faculty at Yale.
> Within a few years, he had begun to help think through what would later
> be called "new trade theory," which holds that an increasing proportion
> of trade can be explained by technological innovation rather than
> countries' comparative advantage (i.e., in natural resources). Krugman's
> work on the subject cemented his academic reputation and launched him
> into the ranks of rising young stars in the field.
Nice to hear that, given that I read Krugman weekly in the NYT. One of the
most lucid and rational columnists writing on the Issues Of The Day, imho.
Craig Richardson
True enough. Almost makes me wish I agreed with him about something.
--Craig
--
Managing the Devil Rays is something like competing on "Iron Chef",
and having Chairman Kaga reveal a huge ziggurat of lint.
Gary Huckabay, Baseball Prospectus Online, August 21, 2002
Nyrath the nearly wise
> <http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0212.confessore.html>
>
> Krugman was born and raised on Long Island, where he enjoyed what he
> describes as an "utterly conventional" suburban childhood. After reading
> Isaac Asimov's classic Foundation novels, he nurtured a secret desire to
> be one of Asimov's "psychohistorians"--futuristic social scientists who
> could predict the course of human history.
ANALOG magazine called An Introduction to Psychohistory
by Michael F. Flynn (part 1 in April 1988, part 2
in May 1988).
It is some musings on real-world mathematical modeling
which bears some resemblance to Asimov's Psychohistory.
Paul F. Dietz
> Second that. Up till I read his columns, I'd never seen an editorial
> writer so consistently put forth such an informed, fact-based
> perspective rather than opinion based on mostly-common knowledge. Of
> course I cheated, I'd read many of his books and essays long before he
> got an editorial. Still, I get the NYT editorials emailed to me just
> so I can read his. And I can't remember ever reading one that I
> fundamentally disagreed with - something pretty much unheard of given
> what a fundamentally disagreeable person I am!
Science fiction fans might not like everything he points
out, though. For example:
http://www.pkarchive.org/economy/BoringFuture.html
Paul