My career has been eclectic, but has centered on making complex economic issues understandable to the general public. Much of my work has been international in focus, dealing with trade, globalization, finance, and business. As a historian and economist I’ve researched and presented extensively on regulatory and macroeconomic issues as well.
I first grew interested in business and economics as a young journalist in Atlanta, working as a freelance correspondent for Time magazine and a staffer for the Bureau of National Affairs, which is now part of Bloomberg. After studying economics while earning graduate degrees at Georgia State University and Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs (then called the Woodrow Wilson School), I became editorial director of the Journal of Commerce, which was one of the country’s oldest daily newspapers. The JOC, based in New York, mainly covered international trade and transportation, and I gained a background in maritime affairs that proved helpful when I later wrote The Box.
I signed on with Newsweek to write about business and economics before moving to London to edit the finance and economics section of The Economist. With the internet starting to affect the news media, I decided to change careers, joining Chase (now JP Morgan Chase) where I created a unique industry economics function and provided research for institutional investor clients. Along the way, I received a doctorate in history from the City University of New York. When my job disappeared amid the financial crisis in 2009, I became senior fellow for international business at the Council on Foreign Relations and went on to manage transportation and industry analysis for the U.S. Congress at the Congressional Research Service.
Over the years, I’ve written for many leading print and on-line publications, such as Harvard Business Review, the New York Times, Aeon, and Foreign Affairs, as well as for scholarly journals. I frequently review books for The Wall Street Journal and other publications. I have written seven books that merge my interests in economics and business strategy with historical research. Along the way, I’ve advised a number of businesses and public agencies and spoken to business and academic audiences in many countries and several languages. I live in Washington, D.C.
