George — I have to disagree with you and Boudreaux. Absurd as I often find Krugman when he writes on policy, the Nobel is for his work on trade theory, location theory, and economic geography. It is almost beyond dispute that this work is terrific, and significantly advanced economists’ understanding in these areas.

Many free-marketeers who similarly dislike Krugman’s column agree — for example, Tyler Cowen and Arnold Kling. Reason has a good post summarizing reaction here.