President of Estonia Calls Paul Krugman Smug, Overbearing, and Patronizing

The president of Estonia is none too pleased with New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and is venting his transnational rage on Twitter.

The president of Estonia is none too pleased with New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and is venting out his transnational rage on Twitter. Earlier today, Krugman posted a brisk blog post downplaying the recent economic recovery in the Baltic state and Toomas Hendrik IIves, the fourth president of Estonia, is going ballistic:

Let's write about something we know nothing about & be smug, overbearing & patronizing: after all, they're just wogs: krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/06/est…

— toomas hendrik ilves (@IlvesToomas) June 6, 2012

Guess a Nobel in trade means you can pontificate on fiscal matters & declare my country a "wasteland". Must be a Princeton vs Columbia thing

— toomas hendrik ilves (@IlvesToomas) June 6, 2012

But yes, what do we know? We're just dumb & silly East Europeans. Unenlightened. Someday we too will understand. Nostra culpa.

— toomas hendrik ilves (@IlvesToomas) June 6, 2012

By the sounds of IIves, you'd think Krugman propagated some grotesque slur about the proud peoples of Estonia. Sorry to disappoint but Krugman's post is just a pretty dry assessment of Estonia's economic recovery. In reply to pro-austerity economists saying Estonia's recovery proves that cutting deficits can work, Krugman says the recovery isn't that great but "better than no recovery at all, obviously."

Aww, snap! He didn't just go there, did he?

And in case you're wondering: That jab about Princeton vs. Columbia is no doubt a reference to IIves's alma mater Columbia University and Princeton, where Krugman is a professor of economics. Talk about a nerd fight. Krugman has yet to respond.