Michael Kinsley

Michael Kinsley is a longtime political journalist and commentator. More

Michael Kinsley is a longtime political journalist and commentator. He has an accomplished record in print, television, and online. He graduated from Harvard, went to Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, and came back to study at Harvard Law. While in his third year of law school, Kinsley began working at The New Republic. He was named editor and wrote that magazine's famous TRB column for most of the 1980s and 1990s. He also served as editor at Harper's, managing editor of Washington Monthly, and American editor of The Economist. Kinsley was a panelist on CNN's "Crossfire" from 1989 to 1995. In the mid-1990s, Kinsley started working for Microsoft and became the founding editor of the company's online journal, Slate. He worked as a senior writer and columnist at The Atlantic and The Atlantic Wire in 2010. In 1999, the Columbia Journalism Review named him Editor of the Year, and in 2010 he was inducted into the American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame. He is famous for defining a gaffe as the moment when a politician tells the truth.

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Thanks for a Great Debate

This post is part of our forum on Michael Kinsley's October cover story exploring the legacy of the Baby Boomers and what they owe the country. Follow the debate here.Eric Liu has always been a higher-minded person than me. He still wants to see the Boomer generation involved in active public service, whereas I am willing to settle for cash. Trouble is, I think my fellow Boomers share my low-mindedness more than his high-mindedness.And I'm thrilled to learn… More »

At Last, Someone Nice!

A reply to Maya MacGuineas—and Jamie Galbraith More »

Of Course We Should Paint the Boomers With a Broad Brush

A response to Todd Gitlin More »

If Deficits Are Totally Harmless, Why Have Any Taxes?

A response to James Galbraith More »

Testing Supply-Side Economics: Will a 0% Estate Tax Promote Early Death?

A response to Christopher Buckley More »

Gen X Can't Afford to Wait Until Boomers Are Out of Power

A response to Lisa Chamberlain More »

Why Boomers Should Be Forced to Share Some Wealth

A response to Bruce Bartlett More »

What Is a Conservative Judge?

Supreme Court confirmations have become a festival of code words. One of the most confusing is "conservative." What is a conservative judge? In fact, this can mean three very different things. It can mean a strong belief in the principle of stare decisis, or respect for precedent. Problem: Does that mean that a conservative judge must rule in favor of upholding all of the liberal rulings of the 1960s and 1970s? Even though many of them overturned earlier… More »

Book Publishing in the Digital Age: A Reality Check

Book Publishing in the Digital Age: A Reality Check

Publishers admit e-books cost less to produce. So, what does the $26 you spend on a hardcover copy really pay for? More »

Condescending Liberals

Condescending Liberals

There's no evidence that liberals are any more elitist than their counterparts. At least they tell it like it is More »

No, We Shouldn't Subsidize The News

Conor, You have a point. I had a paragraph about externalities in my Post column that I cut for space. The argument would have run something like this: it's good for you if I read the New York Times, and good for me if you read it, and without a subsidy the total amount of Times reading will be sub-optimal. I think that's a fairly easy argument to make. Maybe it's even true. Trouble is, I don't think it's a legitimate purpose of government to try to affect what you… More »

No, We Shouldn't Subsidize The News

Conor, You have a point. I had a paragraph about externalities in my Post column that I cut for space. The argument would have run something like this: it's good for you if I read the New York Times, and good for me if you read it, and without a subsidy the total amount of Times reading will be sub-optimal. I think that's a fairly easy argument to make. Maybe it's even true. Trouble is, I don't think it's a legitimate purpose of government to try to affect what you… More »

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