Michael Mandel is chief economist at BusinessWeek, where he helps direct the publication's coverage of the domestic and global economies.  Mandel writes the "Mandel on Economics" column, the "Economics Unbound" blog, and many of BusinessWeek's economic cover stories.

 Since joining BusinessWeek in 1989, Mandel has received multiple awards for his work, including being honored as one of the 100 top U.S. business journalists of the 20th century. In 1998 Mandel won the Gerald Loeb Award for his coverage of the New Economy, and in 2002 he received the Economic Journalism Award from the Institute of Political Journalism, given to the writer  "who has done the most to shape public opinion by giving the public a better understanding of economic theory and  reality." He was named "Best Economic Journalist" for 2006 by the World Leadership Forum.

 Mandel holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University and has written several books. His latest is Economics: The Basics, a new introductory textbook from McGraw-Hill.  Mandel, who grew up in Brooklyn, now lives in Millburn, NJ.