If he had to choose, Paul Krugman, liberal columnist and economist for the New York Times, said he would pick Donald Trump over Ted Cruz to steer the nation's economy.

In a blog post Friday at the Times, Krugman laid out why he thought Cruz's economic policy proposals are "worse" than Trump's "protectionism."

"Protectionism makes economies less efficient, but it does not, in general, destroy jobs," wrote Krugman of Trump's oft-repeated assertion that he will bolster jobs in America by taxing foreign imports. "Put a tariff on imports and people will spend less on imports — but they will normally spend more on other things instead. So a worldwide turn toward protectionism would both reduce everyone's exports and reduce their imports, with the overall effect on spending and hence on employment more or less a wash."

Of Cruz, the Times columnist noted that the Texas senator has campaigned on the gold standard and said that basing U.S. currency on gold would disrupt the economy.

"[R]elying on gold can easily have the effect of forcing a tightening of monetary policy at precisely the wrong moment," said Krugman. "In a crisis, people get worried about banks and seek cash, increasing the demand for monetary base — but you can't expand the monetary base to meet this demand, because it's tied to gold."

Krugman is not held in high-regard among conservative voters nationally, but his semi-endorsement of Trump's economic positions over Cruz's may be a boost to the Trump heading into the New York primaries on April 19.

Trump is currently leading Cruz and John Kasich by more than 20 points in state-level polls.