Alan Tonelson

Welcome to RealityChek! This is a blog to follow if you're sick and tired of the usually brain-dead left, right, and centrist conventional wisdom filling the media (mainstream and not) on economics, foreign policy, politics, and life in general. Ditto if you're after revealing data on the often confusing state of the national and world economies that's simply not available elsewhere. Alan Tonelson (that's me) is RealityChek's founder and voice. I've just finished more than 30 years of senior positions at leading US think tanks and publications to strike out on my own. I've written and lectured on trade, manufacturing, and their interaction with the rest of the economics world, plus national security issues, for the U.S. Business and Industry Council and the Economic Strategy Institute. And I've served as Associate Editor of FOREIGN POLICY magazine. Perhaps you've heard of or read my book on globalization and the US economy, The Race to Bottom> Published in 2002 by Perseus Books, it's available at all major on-line booksellers. And it's held up awfully well since it first appeared. In addition, my articles and reviews have appeared in Foreign Affairs, The Atlantic, Harper's, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Republic, BloombergView, Marketwatch.com, The Hill, FOREIGN POLICY, and many other leading national publications and news sites. If you're a TV news junkie, you may have caught one of my many appearances on CNBC, BloombergTV, and CNN. I'm a quasi-regular on John Batchelor's nationally syndicated radio show, and have provided analysis and commentary for many other leading talk radio programs as well. I've testified before numerous Congressional committees and U.S. government commissions, and lectured in fora ranging from the National Defense Univesity and the State Department's Foreign Service Institute to numerous world affairs councils and labor and business groups in the USA, along with government and academic institutions in the UK, Germany, China, and Japan. I hold a B.A. with highest honors in history from Princeton University and, as you'll see am an avid fan of the NY Yankees, Giants, and Knicks. I love a good, vigorous (but respectful) debate, so I'm always interested in your questions and comments. Feel free to include some snark (I sure do!), but please also leave the profanity and the ad hominem attacks at home.