A UCLA economics professor has come forward and accused economist and Nobel Lauriat Paul Krugman of plagiarism.

From Breitbart:     

In an open letter to Paul Krugman, UCLA economics professor Roger Farmer alleges that Krugman stole his ideas and repackaged them in his New York Times columns.

"Perhaps you have read some of my recent work: Perhaps not. I infer that you may be aware of it since your columns often select themes that closely mirror my writings, usually a day or two after they are circulated. Perhaps that is due to the coincidence fairy," writes Farmer. 

Krugman disagrees:

The plagiarism charges were so serious that Krugman felt compelled to address them in a curiously worded New York Times blog posting.

"A somewhat belated response to Roger Farmer, who accused me of cribbing from his writings. The truth is sadder; I haven't read any of his stuff," Krugman begins.

Perhaps the NSA could help get to the bottom of the above claim by Krugman.

Then, in the next sentence, Krugman appeared to contradict himself by conceding that he was, in fact, familiar with Farmer's writings and had read them.

"I've tried, a couple of times, but found it very hard to penetrate and gave up." 

Does anyone else here think the real news is that someone would actually come forward and claim to have provided the intellectual foundation for some of Krugman's work?

Seriously, claiming responsibility for Krugman's work seems a bit like someone suddenly coming forward and claiming to be the rightful intellectual property owner for the "New Coke" recipe or the Ford Edsel design, two of corporate America's biggest blunders? 

Who in their right mind would attach themselves to any part of such failed economic ideas?

Scott blogs at www.politiseeds.com