Koufax
It’s not an award, but it is greatly appreciated. Announcing this year’s Koufax winners, Dwight writes
Hosting the awards allows us to serve as conduits for the opinions of many, many people. During the awards, we try not to express our opinions. It has become my habit, when announcing the winners, to take the opportunity to express my personal preferences by identifying blogs that I read daily and that I believe others should as well. I want to identify three such blogs this year. It should be no surprise that those blogs write in areas that interest me, namely economics, law, and politics.
This year the first of those blogs is Angry Bear. Angry Bear is written by three economists, Angry Bear, Kash, and PGL. They bring their expertise to bear (pun intended) on all manner of economic issues and they do so in a way that is accessible to those without a strong background in the discipline. Whenever a budget, an economic report, or an economic projection is issued, Angry Bear is my first stop for clear economic analysis. If you are not reading Angry Bear, please correct that sad state of affairs immediately.
The law blog I wish to point out is the Return of Ignatz by Sam Heldman. Sam is a lawyer, an astute court watcher, understands both the law and the litigation process, and, in a previous incarnation, had the guts to predict Supreme Court decisions. He was Atrios’ lawyer in l’affair Luskin. If you are interested in legal isues, Ignatz is essential reading.
The final blog I wish to single out is the Decembrist by Mark Schmitt. Mark’s background is policy and politics. He is the Director of Policy and Research at the Open Society Institute. He formerly was a speechwriter and policy director for former Senator Bill Bradley. Mark digs below the surface to identify larger political issues and trends. His analysis of policy proposals is superb. The Decembrist is a blog for those who are less concerned about the daily outrage and more concerned with longer term trends. The Decembrist is a thoughtful blog by a thoughtful observer who cares deeply about the principles of liberalism. I commend it to your attention.
That said, lets move on to the winners.
I strongly second Dwight’s endorsement of Mark Schmitt’s Decembrist, and I’ll definitely have to check out Ignatz. Congratulations to all this year’s Koufax winners, who you can see here.
AB
P.S. I forgot to mention that we just marked our 2 year anniversary here at Angry Bear. Here’s my first substantive post, Income and Consumption, from 2/14/2003. Funny how some things never change.