Vox Mia - Adding My Voice to the Chorus

Paul Krugman wins Nobel economics prize

Like many progressives I’ve read and followed Paul Krugman for a number of years now, and consider him, not only prescient about the Bush presidency, but brave for speaking against the Iraq war when it was politically dangerous for public figures do so. To date, Paul Krugman has been thoroughly vindicated on economic policy, the Iraq invasion and, too, the catastrophe that is the Bush administration.

It is because of my respect for him that I’m sincerely happy to read that Paul Krugman has today been awarded the Nobel prize in economics:

Paul Krugman, the Princeton University scholar and New York Times columnist, won the Nobel economic prize Monday for his analysis of how economies of scale can affect trade patterns and the location of economic activity.

Krugman has been a harsh critic of the Bush administration and the Republican Party in The New York Times, where he writes a regular column and has a blog called “Conscience of a Liberal.”

[…]

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences praised Krugman for formulating a new theory to answer questions about free trade.

“What are the effects of free trade and globalization? What are the driving forces behind worldwide urbanization? Paul Krugman has formulated a new theory to answer these questions,” the academy said in its citation.

Sean Tavis’ “The 3000″

This is a great example of how creative and enterprising candidates are availing themselves of the Internet to connect to like-minded constituents to organize, and summon resources.

From the LA Times:

OLATHE, KAN. — When Sean Tevis decided to run for a seat in the Kansas Legislature, he faced a serious problem: money. Local political advisors warned the campaign novice that he would need a war chest of at least $26,000 to compete against his entrenched Republican rival.

[…]

So Tevis created a droll online cartoon strip to appeal to potential supporters wherever they might be, using stick figures to represent himself, his GOP opponent and others.

More importantly, this is a great lesson for progressives running for office at the local level.

Oh yeah, here’s a snippet of Sean Tavis’ comic strip that’s helped him raise over $90,000 so far: