Krugman: "I was very lucky to be in the right place at the right time

SANTO DOMINGO.- The Academic Council of Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC) awarded an Honoris Causa Doctorate in Economic Sciences to Paul Krugman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics 2008, in recognition of his academic merits and his contributions to the definition of public policies with political and social sensitivity.  

The investiture ceremony, which is part of the activities commemorating the 43rd anniversary of INTEC's founding, was held this Thursday, October 15 at 10:00 AM in the Gran Piantini room of the JW Marriott Blue Mall hotel, and was led by the Vice President of the Republic, Margarita Cedeño de Fernández; the president of the Board of Regents of INTEC Claudia De Los Santos; the rector of INTEC Rolando M. Guzmán; the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Ligia Amada Melo, among other academic authorities and special guests.  

When pronouncing the words of motivation, the rector of INTEC spoke about Krugman's contributions in the field of international economics and reviewed the key aspects of his academic career, as author and columnist “INTEC considers that Paul Krugman exemplifies the values ​​of our institution, and that is why he welcomes him as a new Doctor Honoris Causa with a feeling of great admiration and respect ”, he expressed.

Next, Dr. Guzmán imposed the academic band and the diploma that accredited Krugman as Doctor Honoris Causa of INTEC.

In his words of appreciation, Dr. Krugman confessed to being honored by the inauguration and said that it is an occasion to celebrate the role that the social and economic sciences play in human knowledge. "Economics is in the same basket as Engineering or Political Sciences. They are forms of progress and I think progress must be celebrated."

"I was very lucky to be in the right place at the right time and I hope I have contributed in some way to a better world. I see young people around the world doing an excellent job in economic research and the joy of seeing that progress never goes away. Thank you for honoring my work and I know that in the future you will find many people to recognize and that little by little we will build a better world, "he said.

Paul Krugman received the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences at 2008, when he was a professor at Princeton University, for his contributions to international economic theory. He currently serves as a professor in the PhD program in Economics at the City University of New York and as a Specialist at the Center on the Study of Income in Luxembourg.

With the award ceremony, Krugman becomes the fourth person to receive an Honorary Doctorate from INTEC. The first was awarded to the economist and doctor in Political Sciences, Eduardo Latorre (1984), founder and past Rector of INTEC, who served as Foreign Minister of the Dominican Republic from 1996 to 2000.

The second honorary doctorate of the INTEC was awarded to the renowned American linguist Noam Chomsky (2006) founder of generative and transformational grammar, in Humanities; the third, in Sciences, fell on the outstanding Dominican physicist, Doctor in Electro-Physics, Erich Kunhardt (2007), who registered some 14 patents in the United States.

About Paul Krugman

Professor Paul Robin Krugman was born in Albany, New York, in the United States, and grew up on Long Island, in that same state. He earned a bachelor's degree in Economics from Yale University in the year of 1974, and at the 24 years of age he obtained a Doctor of Economics degree from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).  

Professor Krugman has taught at his two Alma Mater, Yale University and MIT, where he held the illustrious position of International Ford Professor of Economics, as well as at Stanford University. On the other side of the Atlantic, at the prestigious London School of Economics, he was appointed Centennial Professor. In the last 15 years Paul Krugman was a professor at Princeton University in New Jersey and his renowned Woodrow Willson School of Public and International Affairs.

He recently became a professor in the PhD program in Economics at the City University of New York and as a specialist in the Center on the Study of Income in Luxembourg.

His career is not limited to academic and university. Between 1982 and 1983 he also worked for the government of his country as Senior International Economist of the President's Council of Economic Advisers.

The most important academic contributions of Professor Krugman are concentrated in two areas: international trade and economic geography: In the first, he helped to understand the patterns of trade in contexts of imperfect competition, that is, in concentrated markets dominated by few companies that interact strategically and in which economies of scale prevail.  

In economic geography helped to clarify the dynamics and forces behind the intense spatial concentration of economic activity that is observed globally, particularly in urban poles, along with the marginalization of many other territories. With this, together with others, it inaugurated what is known as the new economic geography.

The contributions of Professor Krugman have earned him the most notable international recognition. At 1991 he was awarded the John Bates Clark Award from the prestigious American Economic Association for economists under 40 for years. At 2001 he received the Nikkei Award, along with two other colleagues; at 2004 he received the Prince of Asturias Award in Social Sciences, and at 2008 he received the Nobel Prize in Economics. He is also a Distinguished Member of the prestigious Econometric Society and a research associate of the National Office for Economic Research, the leading economic research organization in the United States.