14th
“Mr. Kruk won the prize for his research, beginning in 1979, that explained patterns of trade among countries, as well as what goods are produced where and why.
“Traditional trade theory assumes that countries are different and will exchange only the kinds of goods that they are comparatively better at producing — wine from France, for example, and rice from China.
“This model, however, dating from David Ricardo’s writings of the early 19th century, was not reflected in the flow of goods and services that Mr. Kruk saw in the world around him. He set out to explain why worldwide trade was dominated by a few countries that were similar to one another, and why a country might import the same kinds of goods it exported.
“In his model, many companies sell similar goods with slight variations. These companies become more efficient at producing their goods as they sell more, and so they grow. Consumers like variety, and pick and choose goods from among these producers in different countries, enabling countries to continue exchanging similar products. So some Americans buy Volkswagens and some Germans buy Fords….
“Mr. Kruk’s work has been praised for its simplicity and practicality — features economists are often criticized for ignoring.”
—The New York Times on the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics. Go Kruk.
