Economics columnist Krugman is retiring from NY Times

New York Times opinion editor Kathleen Kingsbury sent out the following on Friday:

I want to take you back to Jan. 2, 2000, a day when Y2K was in the rearview mirror and the dot-com bubble burst was just around the corner, when the Dow stood at a mighty 11,500 and a New York Times Opinion columnist debuted on the scene with the first of many prescient arguments and ideas about economics and government.

“Beginnings are always difficult: Even the most tough-minded writer finds it hard to avoid portentousness,” Paul Krugman wrote in his inaugural column nearly 25 years ago. “And since this is a quadruple beginning (new year, new century, new millennium and, for me, new column), I won’t even try. What follows are some broad opening-night thoughts about the world economy.”

That lede and the column were signature Krugman: The authoritative voice. The lively writing. The direct style. The clear hand guiding readers through a thicket of policy, data and trade-offs. The big ideas — in that column, they were about the First Global Economy and the Second Global Economy and how the interplay of political and economic questions would shape life worldwide in the 21st century. In little time, Paul became an essential read in Opinion, helping countless readers become more fluent in and mindful of how trade, taxes, technology, the markets, labor and capital intersected with political leadership, ideology and partisanship to shape the lives of people across America and the world.

Beginnings are always difficult, as Paul said, and so are endings. I’m writing to let you know that he has decided to retire from The Times at the end of the year. He plans to write a final column soon — though he will forever be a friend of Opinion.

Paul is an important figure in the recent history of Times Opinion. Time and again, he took on the big fights, grappled with policy deeply and seriously, held the powerful to account and spoke hard truths — sometimes as a lonely voice arguing unfashionable positions. He was a strong, clear, early opponent of the American invasion of Iraq and spent years shining a light on the lies and consequences involved with that war. He was a principled critic of George W. Bush’s leadership and many of his policy priorities and, with lucid prose, helped readers understand the implications of the Bush tax cuts and his proposed privatization of Social Security. And Paul was plenty tough on Bush’s successor, too: Barack Obama hadn’t even taken office in 2009 when Paul memorably took apart the president-elect’s prescription for the Great Recession: “The economic plan he’s offering isn’t as strong as his language about the economic threat,” Paul wrote. “In fact, it falls well short of what’s needed.”

And through the Trump era and the Biden presidency, Paul was ever-sharp about the critical stakes facing the country, not least the threat to democracy posed by Donald Trump and how his plans could radically harm the economy. A few weeks before this year’s election, Paul took a deep dive into Trump’s tariff plans, laying out for readers in clear and urgent writing why his economic policy ideas could do enormous damage to American society. He ended the essay with a classic Krugman kicker, where he summarized the cons of Trump’s tariffs in one graf and then wrote in the final graf, “Pros: I can’t think of any.”

Nick Fox, one of Paul’s editors over the years, said: “Twenty-five years ago, who could have imagined that a column by an expert in economics (yawn!) would become addictive for millions of Americans? Paul made the complex clear, cut through double talk and obfuscation and wrote in the voice of a tough but beloved teacher. It was remarkable that he could write so enjoyably and insightfully as many as four times a week.”

Ezra Klein, who has had his fellow Opinion columnist on his podcast over the years, said: “I don’t know that there’s anyone alive I have read more words from than Paul Krugman. A beacon of clear, moral and inventive analysis for decades now. What a gift his work has been.”

Among the many things we appreciate about Paul is that he’s always been game to engage with readers. Liriel Higa, Opinion’s Audience director, put it this way: “Despite being a Nobel winner, Paul was incredibly accessible. He responded to readers in comments on his articles; he touted the benefits of air fryers in an Opinion TikTok; he loved his cats.”

And on that Nobel: It really has been an honor and a privilege to work with someone of Paul’s stature but also an inspiration to see the deep care and strong work ethic that he devotes to his journalism.

Please join me in congratulating our colleague for so many great columns and a ride at The Times worthy of the best bull market. We wish you all the best, Paul.