the-economist
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Ryan Avent
Ryan Avent is an American economics writer and author who spent 15 years at The Economist, six of them writing the magazine's flagship Free Exchange column. He wrote The Wealth of Humans (2016), a widely discussed argument that automation, globalization and a productive elite are creating a glut of labor that breaks the old social contract of work. He now runs portfolio communications at the investment fund Select Equity Group, writes the Substack newsletter The Bellows, and has a book on belief and the fate of societies forthcoming from Yale University Press.
Janan Ganesh
Janan Ganesh is the Financial Times' biweekly columnist and associate editor, one of the most widely read political essayists writing in English. Born in Nigeria, raised in South London, he reasons his way to conclusions other commentators won't reach: that Keir Starmer may need to fail, that Trump and MAGA have come apart, that the West misreads its own decline. He spent four years covering America from Washington and Los Angeles before returning to London in 2022, and his Saturday FT Weekend column ranges freely across cities, football, restaurants, art and the texture of the good life.
Megan McArdle
Megan McArdle is a Washington Post opinion columnist who writes at the seam where economics, business and public policy meet. She was blogging as 'Jane Galt' from a desk near Ground Zero before most journalists knew what a blog was, parlaying an English-lit degree and a Chicago MBA into a career that ran through The Economist, The Atlantic, Newsweek/Daily Beast and Bloomberg View. A self-described right-leaning libertarian known for steelmanning the other side, she wrote 'The Up Side of Down,' a book arguing that failing well is the real engine of success. In 2025 she added a contributing-writer role at The Dispatch and turned to podcasting with 'Central Air' and 'Reasonably Optimistic.'