What is this blog?

Yglesiaswatch is going to be similar to sites that fact check and criticize blogs by Andrew Sullivan, Glenn Reynolds, and Paul Krugman. But this blog will be different in an important way. Those other sites exist to attack and humiliate those prominent bloggers. Matt Yglesias is actually an amazing blogger and one of the best thinkers on the web, and he explains his ideas in a conversational tone that makes him a pleasure to read.

So why have a blog called "Yglesias Watch"? A few reasons. First, I'm a libertarian conservative. Although I love Matt's blog and have been reading it since 2002, I disagree with him very often. Every once in awhile, I do think he gets a fact wrong or misinterprets data. So I'd like to use this blog, as opposed to his very busy comments thread to take issue with him when he's wrong.

Secondly, Matt's blog covers a wide range of subjects, many of which don't really get covered much on other blogs. Many of his posts are fascinating and I'd love to expound on those.

Third, I have another blog, Francois World, and frankly I just don't post enough because I'm more inspired to write in response to what others write than I am to make original posts of my own. When I do have an idea for something to discuss in an original post, it will still go on that blog. But since I find myself writing a lot about Matt Yglesias' posts, I figure he should get proper credit and his own dedicated blog.

Fourth, we're in the middle of some exceptional policy debates the likes of which haven't been seen in my lifetime. We've got economic plans, financial regulation, health care, the environment, immigration reform, and two wars going on. During the Bush years, the discussion got kind of stale. Now there are a lot more points of view, so I figure I might actually be able to contribute something that no one else is.

To conclude, while this blog will be 90% about Matt Yglesias, I will occasionally respond to other blogs or link to them when the subject matter is incredibly interesting.