Michael Mandel is former chief economist at BusinessWeek, where he helped direct the magazine's coverage of the domestic and global economies.  He wrote more than 50 of the magazine's cover stories, including "Innovation, Interrupted" in June 2009 and "The GDP Mirage" in October 2009.

Currently Mandel is founder of Visible Economy LLC, a new venture which combines business and economic journalism with education (Our goals: "Credibility, Consistency, Clarity"). His new blog, "Mandel on Innovation and Growth," can be found at  www.southmountaineconomics.com. Starting in fall 2010, Mandel will be a Senior Fellow at Wharton's Mack Center for Technological Innovation.

Mandel has a PhD in economics from Harvard. He was named one of the top 100 business journalists of the 20th century, and has received multiple awards for his work. He is the author of four books, including a new introductory economics textbook, Economics:The Basics , now being used in college courses across the country. Mandel can be reached at mmandel@visibleeconomy.com