Who Are All of You?

I feel that I know a great deal about who writes weblogs, and why, and how weblogs link to each other, and how ideas are sparked by and diffuse across weblogs.

But I know very little about who reads weblogs.

I guess I should get rich, and then give a large grant to Eszter Hargittai (who it says will be spending next academic year out here in the Garden of Earthly Delights) to find out.

Comments

[ogmb]

Oh, for a second I thought she's coming out to Berkeley, but it turns out she's only on the farm team.

[Macneil]

Supposing you were interested in a real reply... I'm a third year PhD student in computer science. I'm interested in economics because of it's vital relevance to politics. My interest in politics, in turn, is probably related to my interest in ethics, which, among other things, has led me to be a vegetarian. My interest in ethics is probably a substitute for not having an organized religion.

[Ghost of Joe Liebling's Dog]

Hmmm ... are you pointing to an interesting project-in-the-making, or would you really like to know who your own readers are?

Kind regards,
Dog, etc.
searching for home

[s9]

Go ahead and use torture. I'll never talk.

[dubblblind]

Initially I used a real email address when posting here, albeit bastardized to read 'yaho.comm' but the spambots found me anyway. Kevin Drum tried this coming out of the internet closet business awhile back and as I recall people who came forward started complaining about how they had been found by spammers. I'm with s9. Sorry Brad, great and good host that you are.

[anne]

http://www.calvorn.com/gallery/photo.php?photo=6049&u=4|2|...

Black-capped Chickadee at Sunset
New York City--Central Park, The Ramble.

Love you, Brad :)

[Saam Barrager]

Aaaah. That image is the first work of art that I ever fell in love with. As an 11-year-old, I rushed through the Prado on the first visit - on the second visit I stumbled into the room that held the Boscos...

30 year old male. Grew up Mormon (mission in Argentina), now atheist. Completed my BA in Economics at UC Berkeley last May. Married. One son (Cyrus), another child on the way (pleading to call him 'Themistocles', but the wife is against it). Speak Spanish, token amounts of Chinese. Software engineer. We live in San Francisco. Homeowners (6 rental units). Very liberal.

I like my family, computers, economics, politics, Monopoly, working on buildings, history.

[florentine]

I'm a 57-year-old female southerner, a magazine editor, first came here because someone linked to something you had written about the housing bubble, a subject I'm interested in.

[trostky]

30-something news guy who enjoys abuse. Living in California's far north. Token semi-conservative.

[Robert R Clough]

I am a retired college teacher and assistant dean. I was a historian. I now make Shaker furniture - Thorncraft, WoodCentral.com - for the family. Been married to Sarah for 50 yrs. We live in MUskego, WI.

[still working it out]

A 28 year old computer helpdesk operator who started, but never finished studying a bachelor of Buisiness Computing and Mechanical Engineering. Always lived in Sydney. Will be married later this year, no kids yet. Atheist, but family background is muslim. My father was English and my mother Fijian-Indian. They migrated to Australia several years before I was born.

I started reading blogs in 2001 because I was very frustrated with the lack depth in news coverage from television and newspapers. I read blogs to understand the news, learn interesting facts, and have the chance to make a contribution that might actually be read once in a while.

[Tom Slee]

middle-aged anglo-canadian ex-chemist technophile leftist parent (not necessarily in that order) who has been reading this blog since day one.

[dilbert dogbert]

Came looking for opinions on investments. Found out this is not a page to find that kind of opinion. Keep coming back because of the interesting topics and comments.

70 years old, retired NASA engineer, whose entire working life, except for short periods of teenage employment, involved using tax payers money. Thanks all for the funds and the fun I had.

Married with 6 children in our combined families. Live in Mid Penensula San Francisco area. Hobbies involve horses and small sailboats.

Not a rethuglican nor a democrat. Feel that both parties are beholden to business with the death of the union movement.

[big mike]

This reader is a 40 year-old engineering professor from Montana.

[ed]

Brad, yes, please, YOU give her the money. Did you know that women's self-assessed 'internet use ability' is significantly lower than men's? Who woulda thunk it?

[batavicus]

42-year old teacher (French and history to seventh graders and government to twelfth graders at a small, private school in San Antonio, TX) I'm new to the job, having stumbled on it last year. I have no education in teaching. My Ph.D. is in European history (dissertation was on United Netherlands, 1814-1819, though I'm a generalist; it's hard to study the Netherlands and not be a generalist) I read this blog for news, to teach myself a little econ, and to find political and economic material for my students. I enjoy reading about and occasionally practicing sustainable cattle ranching. My wife and I garden, cook a lot, and brew our own beer.

And for weeks I've been trying to find the post from about a year ago where Brad showed on which income groups the tax burden was falling. Please, someone, point me to it.

[Martin James]

Came to your journal from searching world population.

Stayed to find out why you don't seem to use economics to explain politics.

[PW]

I'm a regular Brad reader, have my own blog(s), am an artist by trade, brought up in Ivy-covered NE, lived mostly in Europe, then back to settle in w. central TX, rural, cattle, view of ponds, hills, no TV (by choice) but satellite everything else and plenty printed materials on every surface. Dust. Quiet. Fresh veggies. Some guilt.

[anon]

http://www.chicagoist.com/archives/2006/02/16/bruce_wolf_fired_by_fox.php

Wolf studied journalism at NW.

I glanced at Eszter Hargittai link. Certain parts looked like propaganda.

[Martha Bridegam]

San Francisco, freelance writer and poverty lawyer, running weblogs on multifamily housing and reverse mortgages, writing a lot about regulatory aspects of housing but trying to learn more about the economics.

[anon]

Professor DeLong is no longer a realist or into reality!

[Alexey Merz]

Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, U. Washington.

http://faculty.washington.edu/merza/people.html

[strandedlad]

36-year-old Southerner from the Gulf coast. Recently recieved college degree with a major in print journalism and a minor in computer science. Professional disaster relief worker, currently still deployed for Katrina relief.
Enjoy reading the blog because it makes economics seem interesting, a trick also accomplished in Neal Stephenson's Baroque trilogy. Also like the insights on govenment from someone who's been there.

[thatwouldbeme]

33yrs from Perth, Western Australia. I think I tracked you from Atrios around 2-3 years ago?. Love the insights you give into your family and views - though I am lost plenty of time on the economic side of things - slowly learning to grasp information and trying to understand the Australian economy which is part of the world economy a little better etc. Found Brad Setser and Angry Bear from your site.

[peggy]

i'm a housewife, mother (empty-nester, RN, & concerned citizen. i want a better world for our children. i want my kids (all our kids) to be able to feel secure enough in their chosen careers so that they can begin a personal life (marriage, have kids...).

i come here to learn more. (you were linked to at another blog and i have lurked ever since)

i read blogs for the same reason posted earlier:

" still working it out - at 05:44 PM"
"I started reading blogs in 2001 because I was very frustrated with the lack depth in news coverage from television and newspapers. I read blogs to understand the news, learn interesting facts,..."

and my other reason:

to ask questions that sometimes are answered!

thank you, Brad.

[another anon]

Forty-year old male, currently in the midst of a mid-life crisis--um, I mean, mid-life career change. After spending nearly a decade in equities analysis, I left New York, relocated to sunny southern California, and enrolled in law school. BA in Econ, completed the coursework for an MA, never got around to completing (or beginning, for that matter) the required thesis. Your site has been my home page since my Wall Street days.

[Ben V-L]

38 year old physicist at a university that has a decent spam filter (woo-hoo!). Two pre-school aged children, for whom I am trying to save the country. Though they are dual German-American citizens, so we have a backup plan. I've developed a middling interest in economics.

[sbucb]

BA in MCB at Cal, current med student on the farm, but my heart remains in berkeley. When I was a freshman in 2000 someone managed to stick a pumpkin on top of the Campanile; that is where my heart is

[Hopi Sen]

Me: British 33 year old Labour party manager- and former Procter and Gamble marketing exec.

Would blog myself, but uhh would get caught, and fired.

Little bit of an American politics nerd.
(EG Fave books, What it Takes, The powerbroker, The Earl of Louisiana, F&L '72, Dallek on LBJ)

[chris]

54 yr old English business analyst. Like foregoing, might blog but would get fired. Married to US expat, generally fascinated with US politics like a rabbit in headlights.

[good blog]

35 year old junior-mid-level bureaucrat with major federal government institution focused on US foreign policy. Okay, it's the Department of State. Currently residing in Washington, DC. Avid blog reader for many years, mostly international affairs and commentary. Started reading brad delong about two years ago, gearing up for the 04 pres election. Currently check brad delong several times a week; been reading more economics blogs because foreign affairs blogs are just too tedious and depressing these days. From comments section, it's good to know that there are many, many smart people in all kinds of fields/disciplines, pursuing all kinds of goals in life. Folks here in Washington DC tend to think that we know it all. I often wish there were some hard-copy version of certain blogs that I could use to smack people upside the head after a particularly myopic, underinformed and/or misguided discussion/analysis.

[Jeff Chapman]

Eh, 50 year-old ascetic aesthete. Spend half my spare time at Flickr and half reading four or five blogs. Spend half my spare time playing bridge at BBO. Spend the other half of my spare time on creative writing.

Ahh, that's why I haven't been doing enough writing latetly . . .

[Tom]

34 yr. old district attorney living in the Midwest with my wife, dog and cat. I went to Boston Univ. Law School. I am generally interested in politics and read this blog, among others. As I observe what Shrub and Fudd have been doing, I ask 'where are we going and why are we in this handbasket?'

[John]

I'm 69, a retired computer programmer really upset with the threats to Social Security. I read your blog and others to arm myself against the anti-Social Security canards floated on the internet and in the media. I've been concerned for the past 10 years.

[sgiff]

50 year old unemployed mother who loves to learn and can't believe what has happened to my country.

[Francis]

40-ish land use / water rights atty in LA / Orange County. Dartmouth '86 (BA Computer Science); USC Law '92.

1 wife, 2 dogs (who could make a serious run at the title of World's Silliest Dog), no kids. Democrat.

I don't blog because I couldn't make the daily commitment. I try to comment regularly at Obsidian Wings, where Hilzoy (a barely anonymous ethics professor) has taken over and really started to shine.

[Don B]

42 year old PhD in econ who works for a defense related think tank. Moderate, pro-life Catholic Dem. I come here to get quick summaries of econ issues that I do not have time to delve into myself. Your posts on SS last year were great. Marginal Revolution and Angry Bear are two other econ sites I tend to go to.

I return to your site every morning to see what interesting things are happening in the world.

Of all the things you do, I must say that your "Stupidest Man Alive" posts give me the greatest utility. In other words, I laugh my ass off.

Keep up the good work.

[Mark R.]

Under my real name, I'm the editor of the Bird Flu Preparedness Planner, by Grattan Woodson, MD, HCI, 2005.

WM, late 50s, Ph.D. in a social science, still attempting to be a citizen of a constitutional republic with the goals of liberty and justice for all, despite the indications that the slide into plutocratic despotism may be irreversible. I hope there will be a turning point, when corporations are deprived of their artificial "human" rights and seen as the socially-constructed entities they are. As someone might have said, "Corporations are good servants, but terrible masters."

And may all the members of the Cheney Administration get the fair trials they deserve, despite their claim to have the legal right to deprive their prisoners of this.

[dispater]

I am a 22 year old who works for JP Morgan Chase in downtown Chicago. I read your site while I have some downtime at work. I recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Economics. Menize Chinn, who you reference sometimes, was a professor of mine for international trade and finance. I really enjoyed learning about macroeconomics and I read your site as a way to continue learning. Thank you very much.

[RP]

I'm a 39-year-old web programmer who started off as an astrophysicist. I'm an atheist Jewish Iowan living in Chicago. I'm married and childfree with two cats and a small pond with goldfish (and perhaps frogs come midwestern spring). I'm a sarcastic liberal and feminist who reads blogs to learn new things.

[Patrick (G)]

32yo,French American dual-citizen. cubeworker in the software industry with a long term interest in economics.

Yours is one of ~20 blogs I read on a regular basis.

I used to be in the Impeach Bush/Cheney crowd, but now I think the time for that is past. These days, I'm for sending them to the Hague for War Crimes.

[theophylact]

I'm a 65-year-old chemist (Harvard AB, UC Berkeley MS, Princeton PhD) working for the US EPA in Washington, DC. A yellow-dog Democrat, but a deeply disgusted one. Jewish atheist.

[MissedHerReality]

53 year old graphic designer, musician, left-libertarian (sort of a less-utopian free market anarcho-socialist, but the "S" word, so misunderstood, either scares or amuses people these days -- thank you, soviet state-socialists, thank you, right wing consensus reality-makers.). I came here from Max's blog which I came to through Ken MacLeod's. I visit for the intellectual stimulation and the rethuglican bashing. Mmmm...mentally arousing...

also food for thought (and for those wondering how one can be a "free market anti-capitalist"): Kevin Carson's mutualist blog. See mutualist.blogspot.com

[Esq.]

41 y.o. bankruptcy lawyer in NJ. I received a BA in econ from that place where Kash teaches, but I think I pre-date him by a decade or so. I was (and remain today) far more interested in political economy than economics, but enough stuck to make me deeply skeptical about anything Posner writes. My favorite was economic history, and so I really enjoy those posts.

Impeach Bush now.

[hirvi]

50 year old linguist from Lapland. Also a regular reader of this blog.

[goon.01]

I'm a late 20's researcher/fundraiser for a nonprofit loan fund. Between studying Econ at UW-Madison (BA '00) and City Planning at Cornell ('05) I served in the Peace Corps for two years (RPCV - Honduras).

This is on my daily news hitlist.

[John]

42 YO Male, Seattle Wa., originally Rochester, NY. King County government employee, labor relations.

I'm a Chomsky fan and I first took note of you because of your assertiveness against some of Chomsky's writings/ideas in Doug Henwood's LBO email list, like 10 years ago!! Some contrarians are worth listening to and you were persuasive. Been a fan since.

[kali]

I found your name in one of Paul Krugman's columns and started reading your blog on an almost daily basis.
Thanks a lot!

[Steven Rogers]

Me: 45 year old AS400 and PC guy. Former Reaganaut, now a Reluctant Republican.

[Sharon]

BF, 45, graphic designer with a major in art and a minor in public policy which is why I work in an association in DC. My s.o. and I live in a white, working class nieghborhood in Baltimore and we're seeing the ground level effects of Bu$hCo's "Ownnership Society" and it ain't pretty.
I can't remember how I got here, but I've learned so much about a subject that used to baffle me (econ) that I keep coming back for more. Plus, Id always wondered what a member of the Clinton administration thought of these clowns. Thanks for answering that question Brad and thanks for blogging.

[anon]

-person who is undergoing belief revision due to specific life experiences

-blog to keep track of time, feel better, work on writing, meet people, figure out next career move, market myself, manage loneliness

-without blogs or my parents i might have become dangersouly disconnected during the previous year. certain institutions in my community are miserable failures.

[Rich C]

I'm a 36 year old union researcher in Washington DC, about to become a first-time parent. I was once upon a time a grad student in comparative politics, writing about unions, privatization, and public services. Now I work mainly on pension fund investments. Came to your blog through Eschaton, I think; I'm just happy to encounter economists willing to admit that the Marshallian tool box leaves a lot to be desired.

[Charles]

"Inventor, author, editor, educator, Christian. Still in search of Kate."
(http://www.blogger.com/profile/3791049)

My specific interest in this blog is entirely selfish. I'm interested in politics and economics as factors in market turns. Example: I made a neat little bundle by making the correct call on whether allegations against a certain company had merit or were politically-motivated smoke.

But there are so many recreational opportunities, as with Stuart Taylor, Jr. and Jim Brady, subJr. It's a wonder I get anything done.

Plus, Anne, Max, and many of the other regulars. Semi-Daily has many great readers.

[david]

Male, 23, work at the FRB, and am a future economist. The main reason I read your blog is I admire your breadth of knowledge, your clarity of explanation and your commitment to public policy. I also think you have a very sensible view of economics and economic methodology.

[Lisa]

44 year old burnt out economist at U.S. Treasury, international division. Read Brad for the incisive commentary, stunning breadth of knowledge and - oh happy day - occasional digs at my current bosses.

[Erika]

33 year-old labor economist (Ph.D.) researcher currently working for a national statistical agency in Washington, DC. I found Brad through of all places, the long defunct Invisible Adjunct blog. I've stayed for the great commentary and insight into topics such as Social Security, the housing market, international trade. Keep up the great work, Brad.

[eszter]

"I guess I should get rich, and then give a large grant to Eszter Hargittai"

Sounds good to me.:-) If that doesn't happen then let's at least discuss the topic over drinks next year when I'm in the area.:)

A couple of responses to folks - "ed": you seemed to miss the point of that paper about gender a perceived Internet skill. The interesting finding there is that while women perceive their online skills to be lower than those of men, they seem to do just as well when their actual skill is measured. There is little empirical work on this out there.

"anon" commented that parts of my site look like propaganda. I'd be curious, propaganda for what?

[Kate G]

hm. if everyone is posting to this cheat sheet I guess I should to. I'm a 45 year old married white female atheist jewish liberal/progressive with an AB in Social Studies and a Ph.D. in Anthropology, two young children and way too much time on my hands. I read a lot of political blogs on a daily basis--like others here Atrios, Hullabaloo, Gilliard, dailykos, americablog, unclaimed territory, crooks and liars, the left coaster, first draft, war and piece, mark kleiman, juan cole, tapped, tbogg, alteractions, world o'crap--see what I mean, a lot of time. I have a personal interest in Torah study which I also pursue on blogs. I'm also a democratic activist and have gone to my state convention several times as a delegate. I know brad from way back--freshman seminar, in fact, and I really admire his blog. If only we'd had blogs back then, I'd be a lot better educated than I am today.

Kate G.

[eszter]

By the way, for location info, you could always start a Frappr map at frappr.com.

[Matt]

26 yr old, married, former Marine, current PEIS at CAL...seeing the light at the end of the tunnel...graduate in May. Will it give it a try for the foreign service. Sometimes liberl, sometimes conservative, not a great fan of government, but see it as a necessary evil. Maybe that's why i want to work in it? Read the blog for the great commentary and for anything on political economy.

[Paul]

30 yo space physicist (PhD). Found economics as the closest thing to psychohistory. Economist friend recommended Krugman, found my way to DeLong--more updates, broader topics, less shrill ;) Keep coming back because the weblog demonstrates rational (even mathematical) treatment of policy choices. White, married, 2 kids. "New" Democrat.

[Brian]

I first came to this site regularly to read the papers posted, and follow your progress on the 20th Century economic history project. But now, I regularly read your blog, even though I can't stand 99% of blogs generally, and find the whole idea of millions of bloggers vomiting out their uninformed, partisan, conspiratorial delusions to be frustrating at best, disturbing at worst.

But your blog is sort of like the McNeil-Lehrer report or the BBC of blogging: it is actually based on news, actually provides real information, and actually includes intelligent positions that aren't always based on the latest recycled conspiracy theory or redigested talking points.

Keep it up - just stop calling it a blog so that the stuff elsewhere doesn't unfairly effect your brand value.

Signed,

- just another 35 year old kidless wifeless political hack who loves economic history

[Dale]

self-employed contractor. mid 50s. studied philosophy and conflict resolution.
Very active in a large liberal church social justice program.

Interested in the work of Jurgen Habermas as well as the defense and expansion of our New Deal heritage. My two favorite blogs are Brad and Max. Always wondering where the boundaries between system and lifeworld lie.

[Matt Cushman]

26-year-old math weirdo... I mean math grad student. UCB grad. Left winger.

[Julian Elson]

I love Bosch. I know that his intentions probably weren't for us to look at his paintings and think, "woah! Trippy!" and leave with a goofy grin, but whenever a look at them, I am blissfully oblivious to the puritanical moral messages that he intended for me to see in htem. :^)

21 year old math major (specialization in economics) at U. Chicago. From St. Louis. Dad's a biochemist, mom's a harpist. Spoiled, upper middle class, primarily Jewish background, introverted. Going through a bit of a rough spot in my academic career (read: ordinary differential equations are flaying the skin from my bones and putting my head on a pike as an example to the others).

I've read Brad for a long, long time, by blogospheric standards. I think I originally came across his site when I was looking for data to prepare for a "Fed Challenge" project in my junior year of highschool, in 2001 or so.

I have lost all hope of catching up with Brad in terms of erudition and breadth of knowledge, but I hope to someday catch up with his kids.

[SimoneDB]

40-year-old Ph.D. in English lit turned academic administrator. Interested in politics. you write about economic issues well. I don't blog, just lurk.

[Abby]

31 y.o. PhD student in Policy Analysis. Macro-deficient, so trying to make up for it here.

[anon]

eszter

You have a very cool web site full of all kinds of information. I could easily be wrong on the "propaganda" part. I should spend more time reading your site.

This post may be an example of propaganda. I am not sure.

"Come to Northwestern!
February 7th, 2006"

What should one expect from employees who gets *plum* assignments in the garden of delights?

Professor Delong: do you have a similar post? I read Prof DeLong's blog frequently but do not remember something similar.

What is it like to live in something like the fantasy picture posted by Prof D?

[johne]

Sixty-ish one-time Peace Corps Volunteer, with an Ecuadorian wife and live-at-home daughter in a bilingual family. Former mineral exploration geologist, now a technical writer at a Northwest aerospace firm.

I come for the increasingly comprehensive definition of this dismal era that is being worked out here, to marvel at how many people there are who are much smarter than I am, and for a greater number of interventions that leave me saying, "I wish I had said that," than there are on any other outlet I know of, on the web or in print.

Also, by detecting subtle shifts of usage, punctuation and so on, I hope to prove my hypothesis that the entity known to the world as “Brad Delong” is actually the identical siblings of a multiple birth, rotating among themselves the roles of family man, academic, public figure, researcher, and blogger. Their number is so far undetermined, but some of them have a wider definition of troll than others.

[anon]

eszter

here is another

here are my thoughts on a "rock". Arthur Andersen, Kraft, Motorola,United Airlines, Baxter and possibly others have not exactly been a "rock". These are headquartered in Chicago and there is a very significant NW influence. NW and NW alumni can not look the other way on these and blame and oppress people. In my mind, the school has aided and abetted or ignored disastrous performances that have hurt real people. It has gone a little bit beyond one or two isolated instances. It seems somewhat systemic, private and exclusionary.

Other schools such as the Univ of Texas played a much more positive role during a crisis.

If you are not aware of this, you may not know enough people.

[Q]

Oh - I did kind of call in an airstrike there. Fallujah is liberated... I'll have to get some Karma someplace.

[runomics]

I’m a 31 yo Mexican, studying a MA in Economics, teacher assistant, independent consultant, working in a project to alleviate poverty in my country, happily expecting to have my first children in my arms next December and wondering if I’m to old for starting a PhD in econ.

[U.S. Citizen]

I'm a 41-year-old engineer who is concerned that Americans have become disinterested in their personal freedoms and privacy. Wiretaps by the Bush Administration? Hardly. That's kid stuff compared to the tax and financial information that we have to relinquish under threat of prison each year. Virtually every facet of the economy is now big government control. Despite that fact, I've been to many countries, and the US is still a great place to live. Let's keep it that way for at least a little longer.