Wheelan was born in 1966 and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1988. He holds a master’s degree in public affairs from Princeton University and a PhD from the University of Chicago, in public policy. At the turn of the 21st century, he was a correspondent based in Chicago for The Economist. From 2004 to 2012, he taught economics at the University of Chicago, and since 2012, he has taught at his alma mater, Dartmouth. Wheelan also has extensive experience in government, having worked as a speechwriter for the governor of Maine. In 2009, he ran for Congress from the Illinois fifth district (he lost). In addition, he is the founder and current co-chair of the organization Unite America, whose mission is to unite Americans across political parties to encourage a government that is more functional and more representative. Wheelan wrote the group’s founding document, titled “The Centrist Manifesto.”

The author’s wide-ranging background, which includes economics, politics, and public policy, gives him a breadth of expertise to apply to this book. For example, his courses at Dartmouth range from tax policy to education policy to health care. Having taught at top institutions of higher education, reported on economics in the real world, and studied public policy, he has a wide lens through which to view economics and other fields it influences.