Coming soon: Steadyblogging's 1st annotated summary--"(Advanced) Obamanomics"

I've only done ~10 blog posts over the past two months, and pretty haphazardly at that. One goal for the summer/fall was to do some more focused and substantive writing. Now it's a goal for the winter..

But at least I think I've settled on a format and topic. Coming up with original content is (a) difficult, and (b) almost pointless, given how much content is already out there. Indeed, one reason I haven't sat down and wrote (generated content) is that I spend way too much time reading (consuming content).

As a result, many of my blog posts have been just compilations of links (or even lazier, interesting stuff that lands in my inbox, which I just forwarded to the blog!). Often they're longer and pretty substantive news or magazine articles (typical sources are: NYT, WSJ, New Yorker, The Atlantic; i.e., what we're subscribed to and get delivered as hard copies--I've found I don't read newspapers and magazines online, esp now that I'm not tied to a desktop computer 10 (or 12, or more) hours per day.

But people have told me that they usually don't have the time to follow those links..and hence they're not getting to the interesting content that I'm trying to direct them to.

Meanwhile, I'm reading thru this stuff..and people who know me know I like to chime in. Hence, what I've decided I'll start doing is post "annotated summaries" of some of these longer and interesting articles.

I've got the first one almost done, at least in draft form (version 1.0)--a walk thru this longish piece that was the cover story of the NYT Magazine in August, titled "(Advanced) Obanomics." I found it very informative and stimulating when I finally read it (at the beginning of November--I'd saved that issue of the magazine for all those months, to ensure I would eventually get to it!):

How Obama Reconciles Dueling Views on Economy

By DAVID LEONHARDT

Barack Obama is both more left-wing and more right-wing than many people realize. A 15-year debate among economics experts in the Democratic Party helps explain why.

So, I should have a summary of this up by Tuesday. I also have a growing list of articles I'd like to tackle in a similar manner. I'm interested in getting some feedback about which of the following would be of interest to people. Make a comment, or e-mail me directly..


The New Liberalism
How the economic crisis can help Obama redefine the Democrats.
by George Packer
The New Yorker
November 17, 2008
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/11/17/081117fa_fact_packer


Anatomy of a Meltdown
Ben Bernanke and the financial crisis.
by John Cassidy
The New Yorker
December 1, 2008
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/12/01/081201fa_fact_cassidy?yrail


The Confidence Game
by James Grant
WSJ
October 18, 2008
http://sbk.online.wsj.com/article/SB122428355436946301.html


Economics: Which Way for Obama?
By John Cassidy
NY Review of Books
June 12, 2008
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/21491


After Musharraf: What the future holds for Pakistan—and for America
by Joshua Hammer
The Atlantic
October 2007
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200710/musharraf


Behind the Indian Embassy Bombing
by Robert D. Kaplan
The Atlantic Unbound
August 1, 2008
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200808u/kaplan-pakistan


Behind Mumbai
by Robert D. Kaplan
The Atlantic Unbound
November 2008
Robert D. Kaplan offers insight into the Hindu-Muslim tensions festering within India.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200811u/mumbai


The Lawless Frontier
by Robert D. Kaplan
The Atlantic
September 2000
The tribal lands of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border reveal the future of conflict in the Subcontinent, along with the dark side of globalization.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200009/kaplan-border

Where Europe Vanishes
by Robert D. Kaplan
The Atlantic
November 2000
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200011/kaplan-georgia