Atlantic Mag Names Paul Krugman Most Influential Commentator

When you think of New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, a man who has been found by his own public editor to actually make up economic data when it fits his agenda, do you consider him to be the most influential commentator in America?

Well, hold on to your chair, for the Atlantic magazine does.

According to the Atlantic, Krugman is more influential than Rush Limbaugh, George Will, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and Bill O'Reilly.

In fact, as far as these geniuses see it, Times columnists Thomas Friedman, David Brooks, and Frank Rich, as well as the Atlantic's own Andrew Sullivan, are more influential than Hannity and O'Reilly.

Actually, in the Atlantic 50, the man with the highest ratings on cable news is actually ranked 19th, while MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, who typically attracts about one-third the viewers, is number 14 (h/t TVNewser):

1. Paul Krugman
2. Rush Limbaugh
3. George Will
4. Thomas Friedman
5. David Brooks
6. Charles Krauthammer
7. Glenn Beck
8. Frank Rich
9. Andrew Sullivan
10. Karl Rove
11. Sean Hannity
12. David Broder
13. Peggy Noonan
14. Rachel Maddow
15. Arianna Huffington
16. Fareed Zakaria
17. Maureen Dowd
18. E.J. Dionne
19. Bill O'Reilly
20. Keith Olbermann
21. Kathleen Parker
22. Glenn Greenwald
23. Nicholas Kristof
24. William Kristol
25. Robert Samuelson
26. Dick Morris
27. Eugene Robinson
28. David Ignatius
29. Josh Marshall
30. Mark Levin
31. Holman Jenkins
32. Bill Moyers
33. Richard Cohen
34. Jonah Goldberg
35. Gail Collins
36. Ruth Marcus
37. Steven Pearlstein
38. Joe Klein
39. Anne Applebaum
40. Michael Kinsley
41. Matthew Yglesias
42. Joe Nocera
43. Ronald Brownstein
44. Steve Benen
45. Lou Dobbs
46. Bret Stephens
47. Kimberley Strassel
48. Harold Meyerson
49. Ezra Klein
50. Hendrik Hertzberg