Binyamin Appelbaum writes about economics and business for the editorial page of the New York Times. From 2010 to 2019, he was a Washington correspondent for the Times, covering economic policy in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis. He previously worked for the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and the Charlotte Observer, where his reporting on subprime lending won a George Polk Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He lives with his wife and children in Washington, D.C.
Binyamin Appelbaum has written a powerful must-read for all those interested in reinvigorating the credibility of economics, especially in policymaking circles. -- Mohamed A. El-Erian An entertaining and well-written look at how market-oriented ideas rose from the academy and transformed nations. -- Tyler Cowen Writing in accessible language of thorny fiscal matters, the author ventures into oddly fascinating corners of recent economic history . . . Anyone who wonders why government officials still take the Laffer curve seriously need go no further than this lucid book. * Kirkus * Lively and entertaining . . . The Economists' Hour is a reminder of the power of ideas to shape the course of history. -- Liaquat Ahamed * New Yorker * The New York Times financial writer maps the advance of economists-from the Kennedy administration onward-out of the academy and into government, elevating free markets in the sausage-making of public policy and sparking the inequity that plagues us today. * O Magazine * The wider story of the market-centric worldview provides the meat of Appelbaum's narrative . . . The fact that such sophisticated people presided over a dangerous build-up in financial risk suggests that something larger was at work than a naive faith in markets. Appelbaum's strength is that he generally acknowledges these complexities. * Atlantic * This thoroughly researched, comprehensive, and critical account of the economic philosophies that have reigned for the past half century powerfully indicts them. * Publisher Weekly (starred) *