'There really are a lot of crooks out there'

Former New York Times economics reporter Edmund Andrews explains the lifecycle of his profession:

When I was in journalism school many years ago, a professor remarked that business reporters often go through three phases of maturation. At the start, the callous young reporter assumes that all business executives are rich crooks who need to be exposed. As the reporter enters the second phase, he gains access to top executives and discovers that they are much more open, hard-working and smart than they had seemed. In the final phase, the fully-seasoned journalist breaks through to the highest level of awareness: it turns out, there really are a lot of crooks out there.

That’s the feeling I have now.

Andrews is blogging at the excellent Capitol Gains and Games now, so go say hi.