Paul Krugman, The New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize-winning economist, was honored last night with the Economic Policy Institute’s (EPI‘s) first-ever Distinguished Economist Award.

In this EPI video, Krugman shares his vision for a decent society, discusses the radicalizing impact of the policy debates of the past decade and reveals his philosophy on making our society a better one for all.

Krugman, says Robert Johnson, executive director of the Institute for New Economic Thinking,

does this translation from the technical, high church of economic thinking to things that common sense people can understand.

The award was presented at EPI’s 25 anniversary celebration that also honored former Labor Secretary Ray Marshall, one of EPI’s founding members, and the workers in Wisconsin who rose up against Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) attack on collective bargaining and sparked a nationwide movement. Click here for a video tribute to Marshall and here for a slide on the Wisconsin actions.