Centrism

In politics, centrism or the centre is a political outlook or specific position that involves acceptance or support of a balance of a degree of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy; while opposing political changes which would result in a significant shift of society either strongly to the left or the right.Centre-left and centre-right politics both involve a general association with centrism combined while leaning somewhat to their respective sides of the spectrum. The term is often used interchangeably with the Third Way, a political position popularized by Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and Paul Keating in the 1990s, whereby policies favored a balanced approach and the removal of extreme ideologies.

Definitions

Voters may identify with moderation for a number of reasons: pragmatic, ideological or otherwise. It has even been suggested that individuals vote for 'centrist' parties for purely statistical reasons.

Centrists usually support to a degree of equal opportunity and economic freedom. They can generally lean conservative on economic issues and lean liberal on social issues and sometimes vice versa.

Paul Krugman

Paul Robin Krugman (born February 28, 1953) is an American economist, Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and an op-ed columnist for The New York Times. In 2008, Krugman was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to New Trade Theory and New Economic Geography. The Prize Committee cited Krugman's work explaining the patterns of international trade and the geographic distribution of economic activity, by examining the effects of economies of scale and of consumer preferences for diverse goods and services.

Krugman is known in academia for his work on international economics (including trade theory, economic geography, and international finance),liquidity traps, and currency crisis. Krugman was previously a professor of economics at MIT, and later at Princeton University. He retired from Princeton in June 2015 to join the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He also holds the title of Centenary Professor at the London School of Economics, and was President of the Eastern Economic Association in 2010. The Research Papers in Economics project ranked him as the world's 22nd most influential economist based on his academic contributions.