US economist Paul Krugman, a fierce critic of President George W. Bush's handling of the global financial crisis, on Monday won the 2008 Nobel Economics Prize.
The 55-year-old Princeton University professor, and a New York Times columnist, has worked intensely on the impact of free trade and globalisation, as well as the driving forces behind urbanisation, the Nobel citation said.
The financial turmoil, which has sent shares crashing, has cast a shadow over this year's prize and after his triumph, Krugman said he was "extremely terrified" by the crisis, Sweden's TT news agency reported.
"I'm happier about it now than I was five days ago. I was extremely happy with the European summit yesterday (Sunday), so I'm feeling better today, but it's still terrifying," he said.
"I never thought I would see anything that looked like 1931 in my lifetime, but in many ways this crisis does," he added.
