Smith joins NY Times biz desk to cover economy

New York Times business editor Ellen Pollock sent out the following announcement on Wednesday:

We’re delighted to announce that Talmon Smith has joined the Business desk as an economics reporter after a versatile run as an editor in Opinion.

Since he came to The Times in 2018, Tal’s invisible hand has been behind thought-provoking work spanning an impressive range of topics, forms and perspectives. He has commissioned pieces that questioned economic orthodoxy; hosted arguments from big names on Wall Street and former Federal Reserve economists; and brought new voices to the Opinion pages on issues like the campaign for a living wage.

“I grew toward a focus on stories that explore, play and wrestle with how money, culture and power function in our market society,” Tal says. But he also oversaw dispatches on the Camp Fire in California, on the return of funk music and on treating professional burnout with nature travel, among many other subjects.

That’s not to mention the insightful contributions that appeared under his own byline, like those on the legacy of Hurricane Katrina, on “The Apprentice” as the prequel to the Trump presidency, and on New York City’s fitful emergence from pandemic lockdown.

An eighth-generation New Orleanian, Tal graduated from Tufts with a major in history and a minor in film. He began his career as a researcher and visiting scholar at N.Y.U.’s Journalism Institute and was assistant to the editor in chief at GQ Magazine. He has written for The Atlantic, The New Republic, Vice News, The Village Voice and New York Magazine.

Tal started in the newsroom on Oct. 18. Please join us in welcoming him.