Paul Krugman has at least three jobs: professor of economics and international affairs at Princeton University, Centenary Professor at the London School of Economics, and an op-ed columnist for The New York Times. Krugman is the author or editor of 20 books and more than 200 professional journal articles, many of them on international trade and finance. In recognition of his work, he received the John Bates Clark Medal from the American Economic Association, an award given every two years to the top economist under the age of 40. His previous book, The Great Unraveling, was a New York Times bestseller.

Jon Wiener is a contributing editor to The Nation magazine and aprofessor of history at the University of California - Irvine, where he specializes in recent American history. His books include: Historians in Trouble: Plagiarism, Fraud and Politics in the Ivory Tower, Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon FBI Files; Professors, Politics and Pop; and Come Together: John Lennon in His Time. Wiener hosts an afternoon drive-time radio program on KPFK-90.7 FM in Los Angeles, a listener-supported Pacifica network station, where his show features interviews on politics and culture.