Tuesday, November 14, 2006

I see that John Tierney is leaving the New York Times op-ed page.

It's always amused me that the most prominent libertarian in print journalism got screwed by capitalism. A few months after he got his gig on the op-ed page, the Times put it behind the TimesSelect pay firewall. Paul Krugman, Tom Friedman, Frank Rich, Maureen Dowd, and David Brooks were nationally known commentators who'd written bestselling books when TimesSelect hit, but Tierney had yet to build a readership. Yet how could he complain? By definition, he believes the marketplace and the profit motive are always forces for good.

Even though he gives other reasons for the career move, I suspect the situation did frustrate him. If so, boo hoo. Hoist on your own petard, John.

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