Krugman is an archetypical midwit, a sneering Tarquinoid. His entire sense of self depends on seeing himself as cleverer than everybody else, but he is so insecure that any hint of lèse-majesté triggers a narcissistic rage. He knows at some level that he has no deep grasp on his chosen subject, economics, because like an art, it requires a depth of discernment which will forever escape him, like a musician whose fingers can travel quickly across the keys but who cannot play musically. His Nobel prize is a joke. He essentially reinvented the concept of the division of labor, and declared it a bad thing.