October 28, 2007 7:43

Econoblogger at work: Menzie Chinn

While I was in Madison, Wisconsin, last week, I paid a visit to one of my favorite econobloggers: UW professor of public affairs and economics Menzie Chinn. I took this photo, which I hope will be the first in an acclaimed and award-winning series on econobloggers at work. Although if you look closely, you'll see that Chinn is not actually working on his blog, but pretending to read it.

The blog is Econbrowser. UC San Diego's James Hamilton started it; Chinn commented occasionally and Hamilton eventually asked him to start posting. They both offer a mostly no-nonsense take on the big macroeconomic issues of the day. I'm particularly partial to Chinn's writings on exchange rates--one of the most confusing subjects of our time, as well as one of the most important. He offers no definitive answers, but does a great job of clearly describing the extent of current economic knowledge on the subject, as well as the limits.