I enjoy the Planet Money blog for the same reasons that the Planet Money specials on National Public Radio on the financial crisis were fabulously successful. The Planet Money crowd doesn't think jargon equals analysis. They write in English, not econospeak, which means they're willing to ask their sources probing questions, like, "What do you mean by that?" and "I'm sorry, I don't understand — can you explain it again?"
There's also a whimsical nature to the blog. The headline on a recent post managed to contain perhaps the single best summary of the current obsession with inflation — and to do so in exactly five words: "Inflation! (Is Still Pretty Low)"
You don't have to agree with all of Planet Money's calls — I don't — to feel as if you usually leave the site smarter than when you arrived. What else can you want from a blog?
Leonhardt is an economics columnist for the New York Times and a contributor to its blog Economix.