The end of the beginning

So I’ve been thinking of changing my blogging style, to be a bit more strident, a bit more aggressive, a bit more useful to people who want it straight.

It’s with this feeling in mind that I bought this URL a few years ago. My original plan was to write a book, one chapter at a time, on this blog. Each chapter was going to deal with a basic topic (taxes, children, etc.) and discuss the obvious and/or important insights that economics has on that topic.

The title of this blog refers to an old story of President Harry Truman demanding to talk with a one-handed economist… because all the other economists kept saying “one the one hand you can do this, on the other, you can do that…” So my goal here is to give you opinions that are strong but useful, insightful (perhaps) but clear.

I thought that I would do 12 chapters in 12 months, with lots of input from you readers, but then I changed my mind about the schedule (not the need for input!) and decided to take the process a little more slowly, first because what’s the hurry, and second because I’m not really sure what the chapters would be, and I’d prefer to get some ideas from you.

I’ve got a lot more to say (this is only the end of the beginning — there’s a long way yet to go!), but that’s where I am at the moment. Oh — one more thing: I am going to really avoid “going social” with this blog, so I won’t be using twitter, etc. to promote it. Instead, I am hoping to make it a destination worthy of your time, something that you “pull” towards yourself rather than have “pushed” into your inbox, feed or stream.

So let’s step out of the stream, come ashore and relax to think a bit.

Author: David Zetland

I'm a political-economist from California who now lives in Amsterdam.

2 thoughts on “The end of the beginning”

  1. I’m Mohammad danial, econ student from Pakistan. Your regular blog reader and supporter of your great work that you’ve doing doing and currently doing.It’s been a great ride so far. This new idea looks really thought-provoking. Just want you to know that sir you are in my prayers. I hope this endless journey of all of us here prove worthy enough and make sense for people around the world. We need econ heroes like you, professor. THUMBS UP!

  2. Good luck in this new venture! Looking forward to spend some time reading your new “aggressive/strident” views.

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