Not so long ago, the phrase "playboy economist" would have been a joky oxymoron, likely to feature in satirical lists alongside "selfless hedge fund manager" and (at least before the US surge in Iraq) "military intelligence". But, in a sign that practitioners of the dismal science are among the few beneficiaries of the global economic meltdown, this crisis has transformed the 50-year-old New York University professor from a respected academic economist into a minor celebrity.
不久之前,“花花公子經濟學家”這個詞還會是一種調侃的矛盾修辭法,有可能和“無私的對沖基金經理”和“軍事情報”(至少在美國向伊拉克增兵之前)一起出現在用于諷刺挖苦的詞匯清單上。但是,眼下的這場危機將這位50歲的紐約大學教授從受人敬重的學院派經濟學家變成了一位不大不小的名人,這意味著,從事一門枯燥學科的人成為這場全球經濟災難中的少數受益者之一。