"I'm happy with waiting 20 or 30 years and seeing how Krugman's research does. Are you? Or do we have to settle this now for once and all?"

The awards committee cited papers Krugman'd written in 1979, 1981 and 1991 as the basis for their decision.

You can be certain Krugman had such great ideas because his work has been widely cited by other Economists and has been recognized through awards such as the Nobel.

That we're still debating Keynes and Smith only further indicates the far reaching impact of their work.