By Kathy G.
I'm late on this, but better late than never, I suppose. I wanted to congratulate my blog friends Matthew Yglesias (whom I've actually met a time or two in the flesh) and Ta-Nehisi Coates (whom I only cyber-know) on their new gigs. Matt is leaving The Atlantic to join the Center for American Progress, and Ta-Nehisi will be a blogger at The Atlantic.
When Matt announced he was leaving, it immediately occurred to me that Ta-Nehisi would be a great replacement (I swear!). I meant to write a post to that effect, but obviously I missed my chance.
Anyway, I'm very pleased to see that: a) The Atlantic hired such a talented writer (and Ta-Nehisi is someone whose work I've been admiring since his Village Voice days), b) Ta-Nehisi has broken the color line of the previously all-white lineup of Atlantic bloggers, and c) that he's broken through the Ivy League barrier as well (Ta-Nehisi went to Howard, but every other Atlantic blogger attended Harvard or some other Ivy League institution). Huzzah and kudos all around.
I think Ta-Nehisi was a great choice, don't get me wrong. But I have to wonder -- why is it that, out of a line-up of eight full-time bloggers*, The Atlantic has seen it fit to hire only one woman (Megan McArdle)? One female out of eight, or 12.5%, is pathetic. It's not like there aren't scads of fabulously talented women bloggers out there. For their next hire, why doesn't The Atlantic consider one of the following:
How about, say, the brilliant Echidne of the Snakes? The Atlantic's sole female blogger and supposed expert on economics, Megan McArdle, consistently embarrasses The Atlantic and herself by the many rudimentary errors about economics she makes. (Here is just a partial list of stuff she's gotten wrong since just the beginning of this year: she's screwed up basic economic concepts like revealed preference, public choice, monopsony, and the Coase theorem, and has also seriously misrepresented what the peer-reviewed economic literature says about policies like the minimum wage, early childhood education, unions and productivity, and credit discrimination).
But instead of, or in addition to, McArdle, they could have a real live Ph.D.-wielding economist who actually knows what the fuck she's talking about! Imagine that! In addition to her economic expertise, Echidne is a damned good writer. Even though she grew up in (I believe) Finland and English isn't her first language, Echidne, even on her worst day, writes with wit, verve, and style. In English. Whereas McArdle would be hard-pressed to write her way out of a paper bag. In English.
But Echidne is far from the only choice out there. How about, say, the best political blogger around, period? Or our country's smartest young writer about politics and culture, full stop? Or any of these other smart, lively, talented, terrific women?