Ezra Klein

We’re not even going to talk about the tendentious Matrix analogy laced into this column Amity Shlaes wrote for Bloomberg. Not. Even. Going. To. Talk. About. It. I already read the thing for you. I refuse to relive it. But someone should ask Bloomberg why it keeps letting columnists lie about the same fact in […]

As there are about six dozen health reform coalitions and dialogue groups operating right now, I’m not particularly moved by news that SEIU and AFCSME dropped out of one of the least known dialogues. Indeed, I’d suggest this is signaling more than anything else: Loudly pulling back from the generically named “Healthcare Reform Dialogue” and […]

It’s hard to imagine how the Boston Globe could’ve picked a worse picture to accompany their profile of Max Baucus. He looks like a happy skeleton. But maybe the reporter was trying to get Baucus’s communications people back for taking this quote off the record: “For 30 years, Max Baucus has only been influenced by […]

I’m fascinated by Chris Dodd. As a politician, he’s long been just on the cusp of greatness: Losing to Dasche by one vote in the race for Senate Minority Leader, losing to Joe Biden in the race for the 2008 campaign’s breakout graybeard, losing to Barney Frank in the tussle to emerge the leading voice […]

The New York Times offers up some specifics on the unfilled appointments that have turned Tim Geithner’s time at Treasury into a particularly dull Home Alone sequel: Mr. Geithner, as a result, has been pulled in many directions at once and remains virtually the only public face of the Treasury. He is the sole person […]

First, the crass political comment: It’s notable that Obama gave his first presidential address on education to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Fairly little in the speech specifically targeted the Hispanic community — they got exactly one line on early education programs — but choosing them as the site for the address fits into […]

Obama’s speech on education this morning — on which I’ll have a more specific post in a moment — began with a sharp jab at those questioning the scale of the administration’s ambitions: I know there are some who believe we can only handle one challenge at a time. They forget that Lincoln helped lay […]

Ian Parker’s essay on post-crash Iceland has been much-recommended, and I’ll join in that chorus. Among the article’s many great scenes is a closing conversation with Hannes Gissuarson, Iceland’s most influential libertarian thinker and a key adviser to the government that accelerated the country’s transformation into a hedge fund with a flag. Reflecting on his […]

I think Tyler Cowen gives my earlier post too much credit when he says I “consider[ed] the fate of the progressive agenda if a bank goes on the government’s balance sheet and voters start to blame Obama for what they don’t like about banks.” But I’ve been meaning to write that post, too! The nationalization […]

You know your life is starting to get weird when you’re finding out about parties you’re invited to by gossip blogs reporting the fact of your invite. Y’all know I write about health policy and cap and trade, right?