David Leonhardt, The Times’s Washington bureau chief and a contributor to the magazine, is the author of the e-book, “Here’s the Deal: How Washington Can Solve the Deficit and Spur Growth,†published yesterday by Byliner. He will be taking questions from readers about President Obama’s State of the Union address and the state of the economy starting at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow. We had a couple questions for him about his new work.
Yes, several articles were jumping-off points. The most important was a 2009 article called “The Big Fix,†which came out near the depth of the recession. Our goal with that article was to look beyond the immediate crisis â€" which, as the first sentence said, would end eventually â€" and ask what it would take to get the American economy growing at a healthy pace again. Reporting that article was like taking a seminar on economic growth. I spent a long time talking with growth experts like Paul Romer and reading work by Mancur Olson and others. I know some people worry that we overemphasize economic growth at the expense of equality or sustainability. But I’m convinced that faster growth makes every problem easier to solve: middle-class living standards, climate change, health issues and certainly the deficit.
A 2008 article, “Obamanomics,†was also important to the e-book project, as were a few others, such as “Richly Undeserved,†“Students of the Great Recession,†“Making Health Care Better†and “The Three Biggest Tax Breaks â€" and What They Cost Us.†And for anyone skeptical of the value of the education â€" one of the e-book’s themes â€" it’s worth taking a look at the chart that accompanies my article, “Is Religion Your Financial Destiny†which ran in the magazine in May 201.Why write an e-book
When Tyler Cowen, the economist and co-author of the Marginal Revolution blog, wrote an e-book recently (“The Great Stagnationâ€), he mentioned that its length â€" about 15,000 words â€" was the length of economics pamphlets written for the public in the 17th century. Somehow, that length had all but fallen out of use until the e-book came along. It’s longer than a long magazine feature â€" which are often between 6,000 and 8,000 words â€" but much shorter than even a short book. And yet the pamphlet length has real advantages. It’s a good length for a single evening’s reading or a plane flight.
Gerry Marzorati, Hugo Lindgren’s predecessor as the editor of the magazine, suggested an e-book, as part of his current role at The Times, and I was immediately tempted. I’ve spent much of the last 12 years writing abou! t the eco! nomy, and it was a pleasure to lay out my thoughts at a more leisurely pace than an 1,100-word column permits.
