BMI's Gainor: Nobel for Krugman 'In Keeping' with Tradition

October 13th, 2008 6:09 PM

The Nobel Prize Committee's decision to award the economics honors on left-wing New York Times Paul Krugman is right in line with the organization's tradition of honoring conservative-bashing writers and scientists, according to Business & Media Institute Vice President Dan Gainor.

 "They've given Al Gore, they've given Jimmy Carter, they've given the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change," Gainor told Fox News Channel's "Your World" host Neil Cavuto Oct. 13. "The last three literary awards have gone to left and lefter writers and according to this paper called The New York Times there's a lot of critics who are questioning whether the committee is actually making decisions based on reasons other than best literary reasons."

 "Maybe that's keeping with how they're making all their decisions," Gainor said.

He pointed to an array of over-the-top statements Krugman has made in his New York Times column, for which even the paper's public editor has levied serious criticism of the Princeton professor - the kinds of things monitored every day by Times Watch.

"He's been consistent in being over the top so much so that he's been criticized by his own paper," Gainor said. "Daniel Okrent, the outgoing public editor for The New York Times, criticized him and said that he slices his facts and selectively cites them. Well I mean that's pretty bad when you're hearing it from your own public editor."

‘I guess the Nobel committee doesn't like reading his column very much," Gainor concluded.