Matt Yglesias is shocked to learn that Amity Shlaes is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
She’s got a bachelor’s degree in English and her columns once won a prize from a libertarian organization for some articles that “compared the failing economy of high-taxed and over-regulated US state of Maine to the success of the increasingly economically liberal Ireland; and showed that US workers benefit from taking responsibility for their own pensions.” That’s it.
I have a really, really, really hard time imagining the CFR doing something comparable for a liberal with so little in the way of relevant qualifications or track-record outside an ideological cocoon. Just saying. Where’s my fellowship?
Well, for one thing, Shlaes is more than two decades older, has published three books, and is a syndicated columnist. She headed up the Wall Street Journal editorial page when Matt was in grade school.
At 27, Matt’s a senior editor at a think tank and was previously employed as an associate editor at the Atlantic. Despite an undergraduate degree in philosophy and zero military, diplomatic, or national security experience, he’s already published a book with a major press critiquing America’s grand strategy (which I reviewed mostly positively). I’d say he’s at least on pace to catch up to Shlaes.
