Former NYT editor Howell Raines suggests Krugman should be a lock for a Pulitzer Prize come next fall, which would follow up Krugman's recent Nobel Prize for economics.

For nearly a decade, Krugman has been the Times' smartest, most articulate columnists, not to mention its most boldly liberal. What's interesting is that Raines reminds us Krugman, “had been passed over for the Pulitzer Prize in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2006.”

We guess during the Bush years, Krugman's writing--his stinging critique of Bush--wasn't worth celebrating. But now as Krugman documents the economic collapse that he warned about during the Bush years, it's going to be tougher for the media Establishment to ignore his work.