Public Intellectuals may not be a term or concept that is often spoken about anymore. However, these figures play an important role around the world and in America’s democracy. They contribute their criticism and opinions to the public sphere which help individuals to develop their own opinions. Paul Krugman perfectly represents what it means to be a public intellectual. Krugman has been a professor of economics at several different universities and is most known for his op-ed column in the New York Times. Krugman is highly regarded as an expert economist around the world and more specifically in the United States. The question is, how does Paul Krugman play a role in America’s democracy when politics are so polarized? The rise of political polarization along with the role of technology and social media in the world mean that economic public intellectuals, specifically Paul Krugman, reach many less people than they should.
Krugman was born in Albany, New York in 1953. He received a bachelor's degree in economics from Yale University and graduated summa cum laude. He then received a Ph.D. from MIT in 1977. His thesis was about exchange rates, titled “Essays on Flexible Exchange Rates”. After graduating, he become an assistant professor of economics at Yale. Two years later, in 1977, he joined MIT’s economics faculty. Krugman left MIT for a year and served as chief staffer for international economics on U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisors. He was also a professor of economics and international affairs at Princeton University, Centenary professor at the London School of Economics, a distinguished professor of economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and is the author or editor of 23 books and more than 200 professional journal articles. He is even the author of a textbook for economics students. Krugman has won many prestigious awards including a Nobel Prize in 2008 in Economic Sciences “for his analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity”. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2008/press-release/
Krugman is most well-known for his New Trade Theory and New Economic Geography. His New Trade Theory is based on the idea that modern day trade patterns are seen as revolving around consumer preferences for diverse brands of products “which support the persistence of multiple close substitute products traded back and forth between similar countries, and the home market effect which supports specialization in producing specific brands and concentrates their production in certain countries based on economies of scale.” https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/paul-krugman.asp
Krugman’s New Economic Geography in broad terms is his idea that industries and the economic growth they bring are concentrated in specific cities and countries and not evenly spread throughout the world.
The role of public intellectuals has been questioned by many in history for various reasons. In the past public intellectuals have been categorized as belonging to a sort of aristocracy. They were thought of as people who think they know everything but do not really deserve the title or the attention their ideas receive. However, modern day public intellectuals are qualified people whose opinions and criticisms are well respected. They contribute significantly to public discourse, especially Paul Krugman. In Stephen Mack’s article “The ‘Decline’ of Public Intellectuals,” he explains that while public intellectuals can be something that is aligned with democratic values,
“ it needs to begin with a shift from “categories and class” to “function.” That is, our notions of the public intellectual need to focus less on who or what a public intellectual is—and by extension, the qualifications for getting and keeping the title. Instead, we need to be more concerned with the work public intellectuals must do, irrespective of who happens to be doing it.” http://www.stephenmack.com/blog/archives/the_public_intellectual/index.html
Mack perfectly describes the shift that needs to take place in terms of how we think about public intellectuals. It doesn’t matter who they are or where they came from, what matters is the work they are doing and the criticisms they are putting out into the public sphere. While this specific way of looking at public intellectuals is ideal, the concept of political polarization heavily influences the audiences of public intellectuals. Paul Krugman’s role as a public intellectual came about because of all of his hard work and expertise in the field, not because of his “class”. Furthermore, Krugman plays a very important part in America, presenting all of his opinions and theories on economics. The work he does is very high level, and he does a good job of explaining his theories and ideas in a way that regular people can understand. However, the strong divide between political parties has significantly changed how we consume news. Most republicans likely only read newspapers that cater to their views and the same goes for democrats. So, are republicans who don’t agree with Krugman’s political stance consuming his content? Probably not. This makes his role different than that of a traditional public intellectual. This is not to say people do not learn from him and evolve their thinking because of his knowledge, but his views are all liberal and while there is nothing wrong with this, it means that most likely conservatives are not learning from him or hearing about his theories. He may not move people to see things in a different way because only people who agree with his views will consume his material.
Public intellectuals in the economy and politics realm differ from, say, scientist intellectuals. An individual who believes in Keynesian economics could receive a Nobel Prize while an intellectual with the opposite views could also receive a Nobel Prize. This is not the same for scientists, who do not have views but rather have ideas based on facts. This is to say that the polarization that affects someone like Paul Krugman would less likely affect an intellectual in another field.
In Stephen Mack’s article he addresses “Anti Intellectualism” in America, explaining that this does not exist. I agree that there is no hostility towards intellectuals in America and that “Ant-Intellectualism” in America does not exist. I also believe it is crucial to have individuals like Paul Krugman to learn from. Having public intellectuals present in our society allows us as Americans to form our own ideas and contribute to democracy while also growing our knowledge. However, I think that the culture in America has changed in the context of technology and social media. The American population used to read the newspaper every day and also literature was much more popular. From the viewpoint of a 21-year-old in college, young adults often get their news through social media and literature is not read as much as it used to be. Although this is a generalization and there are definitely outliers, these trends can be seen around the country. Neither of these two things are the same as the role of public intellectuals, but the three are all somewhat intertwined. The rise of social media and technology isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it is important to acknowledge that this is probably causing smaller and smaller numbers of people in younger generations to pay attention to public intellectuals.
Even though Krugman may not reach audiences that don’t agree with his political views, he still has a big influence and is considered a top economist. Krugman, and public intellectuals in general, will still continue to have a positive influence around the world. They may not have the same role they did decades ago, but they are still immensely important, and they are definitely not disappearing anytime soon.
Works Cited
Mack , Stephen. “The ‘Decline’ of Public Intellectuals?” The New Democratic Review: The Public Intellectual Archives, http://www.stephenmack.com/blog/archives/the_public_intellectual/index.html.
“Paul Krugman.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/Paul-Krugman.
“The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2008.” NobelPrize.org, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2008/press-release/.
Team, The Investopedia. “Paul Krugman Definition.” Investopedia, Investopedia, 2 Sept. 2021, https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/paul-krugman.asp.
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