Jeff Madrick is an economics columnist for The New York Times and editor of Challenge Magazine. He is the author of several books including Taking America (Bantam) and The End of Affluence (Random House), both of which were New York Times Notable Books of the Year. Taking America was also chosen by Business Week as one of the best books of the year. His most recent book is Why Economies Grow (Basic Books). He is a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books, and has written for many other publications besides the business, op-ed, and magazine sections of the New York Times, including The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Institutional Investor, The Nation, American Prospect, The Boston Globe and Newsday. He has appeared frequently on Charlie Rose, The Lehrer News Hour, CNN, CNBC, CBS, and NPR. He was formerly finance editor of Business Week Magazine and an NBC News reporter and commentator. His awards include an Emmy and a Page One Award. He is an adjunct Professor of Humanities at The Cooper Union and at New School University. He was educated at New York University and Harvard University, and is a former Shorenstein Fellow at Harvard.