Krugman vs. Okrent, Round 2--More to Come

By E&P Staff

Published: May 28, 2005 8:15 PM ET
NEW YORK Knowing Paul Krugman, you had to figure he would not let a final shot last week from the departing New York Times public editor, Daniel Okrent, slide off his back. Sure enough, in the Sunday Times this week, Krugman fires off a rebuttal, printed in the public editor's letters column, with (apparently) more back-and-forth to come, even though Okrent has now left the paper.

Here's the text of Krugman's letter:

"In Daniel Okrent's parting shot as public editor of The New York Times, he levied a harsh charge against me: he said that I have 'a disturbing habit of shaping, slicing and selectively citing numbers in a fashion that pleases his acolytes but leaves him open to substantive assaults.'