A mastery of complicated topics

Gilbert Bailon of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes Sunday about the paper’s business columnist, David Nicklaus.

Bailon writes, “A native of small-town Iowa, Nicklaus has worked for the Post-Dispatch Business staff for 31 years as a reporter, editor and columnist. As a columnist, Nicklaus specializes in bringing down-to-earth analysis of broad themes such as budget sequestration, the housing crisis or banks ‘too big to fail.’

“For a broad readership, Nicklaus uses his mastery of complicated subjects and terminology to provide analysis for a regional economic hub and home to a huge financial services sector. He strives to be authoritative yet accessible to a wide audience.

“Nicklaus broke into business coverage before most general-interest newspapers had begun to invest more into business news coverage.

“After starting as a cub reporter out of Drake University in Iowa, he attended the London School of Economics, where he obtained a master’s degree in economics.

“Nicklaus said he considers himself ‘pro-capitalism but not always pro-business.’ His goal is to provide missing perspective and context while sometimes challenging the conventional wisdom.

“Nicklaus has worked in the Business section dating back to when some garment makers still operated downtown and now during the continuing resurgence of downtown as a job center and lively neighborhood.”

Read more here.