Hello World!
I’m Mike Konczal. I’ve spent my career at the intersection of economic ideas, data science, and high-level policymaking. This Substack is where I’ll be workshopping new arguments and evidence addressing the economic debates of the day.
Most recently, I served as Special Assistant to the President and Chief Economist of the National Economic Council. Today, I’m the Senior Director of Policy and Research at the Economic Security Project, though this Substack reflects my own personal views and not my employer.
Before that, I was an early hire at the Roosevelt Institute’s think tank and worked as both a financial and software engineer. Along the way, I’ve been a columnist for The Nation, Vox, and The Washington Post. I’m the author of Freedom from the Market (2021), and a co-author of Rewriting the Rules of the American Economy (2015) with Joseph Stiglitz. My economic commentary has been cited across the media landscape.
I’m also a Chicago Guy, a dad, a liberal, and a dedicated #RStats user.
Why Subscribe?
A lot of the work I do is translating economics between audiences. I’ll be practicing that here, trying to make difficult things accessible and seeing what evidence works and what doesn’t. I’ll write about:
The policy and politics shaping this chaotic period.
Macroeconomics: growth, inflation, labor markets, market power, and full employment. The good stuff.
Big ideas that connect day-to-day debates to questions of affordability, power, and economic security.
My passion, graphic design. There will be lots of charts
And we’ll try to have some fun along the way. I hope you’ll subscribe below.
