Krugman says picking him for Treasury secretary 'really is a bad idea'

Liberal economist Paul Krugman is pushing back against a petition for him to be nominated as Treasury secretary, saying the notion "really is a bad idea."

Actor Danny Glover and the liberal activist website MoveOn.Org are circulating a petition asking President Obama to nominate Krugman as Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's replacement.

Krugman says while he's "flattered" by the petition, he thinks he has more influence as an op-ed columnist for The New York Times — and describes himself as the "World's Worst Administrator" in a blog post responding to the petition.

"It would mean taking me out of a quasi-official job that I believe I'm good at and putting me into one I'd be bad at," Krugman writes, after saying "there's not a chance that I would be confirmed."

Krugman, a Nobel Prize winner in economics, has frequently criticized Obama's economic positions from the left, and has been a particular critic of Geithner's. Many expect White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew to be picked as Geithner's replacement.

---