Yesterday’s New York Times had a piece about authors ripping off book titles from other authors. Although it’s technically not illegal, reported the Times, the practice is certainly unethical. What they didn’t mention is that one of their own columnists, Paul Krugman, just did it himself. Krugman’s new book, “Conscience of a Liberal,” has the same title as a book that the late U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone wrote in 2001 – which is still in print. Now Krugman claims that he didn’t even know about the book title, a mistake that was at best careless.

Before his tragic death in 2002, Wellstone was the most outspoken progressive in the U.S. Senate. He was the only Senator up for re-election in 1996 to vote against Welfare Repeal – and the last vote he cast was against the Iraq War Resolution. Wellstone briefly considered running for President in 2000, which would have been a spirited challenge for the Democratic nomination. Krugman was a New York Times columnist, and certainly would have known about Wellstone’s book.

When I found Krugman’s book in the store, I checked the index and discovered that he didn’t mention Wellstone once – let alone give him credit for a book with the same title. Krugman ignored the issue in September when he promoted his new book on his blog, but received seven comments that the late Senator had written such a book. “Give credit where credit is due,” said one reader, “especially to a man as great as Paul Wellstone.”

Krugman finally responded in an online interview with the American Prospect – ironically posted on October 25th, the five-year anniversary of Paul Wellstone’ s death. Krugman explained that his wife suggested the title, and that he didn’t know about the coincidence. “It actually slipped through the holes of my head,” said Krugman. “I might not have done if I had realized that.”

Authors take months to write a book, and can easily change the title whenever possible. It stretches credulity that Krugman – who clearly knew about Paul Wellstone – could not have looked up on Amazon.com and seen that the late Senator had written a book with the same title, especially if he claims he “might not have” used the title if he knew about it. What Krugman did is not illegal, but it certainly puts a sour taste in my mouth.