Contributors

In "The End of Power" (page 40) Moisés Naím describes how power is shifting away from large, centralized entities and toward individuals and small, loosely defined organizations. Naím, 60, has held a multitude of jobs in the worlds of finance, government, and journalism: He's served as the executive director of the World Bank, the Minister of Industry for Venezuela, and the editor of Foreign Policy, for which he won the National Magazine Award for General Excellence three times. Naím never expected to have so many different opportunities. "Each time I felt that I was not starting on a new job but rather launching a new career which I would pursue for a long time," he says. "But then another alluring opportunity led me to another career. Mostly, mine is the story of a man without a plan—even though I always felt I had one."

Shikha Dalmia begins her new column for reason this month with "The Party of Immigration" (page 12). Formerly an editor with The Detroit News, Dalmia joined the Reason Foundation in 2005. She's also a columnist for Bloomberg View and the Washington Examiner. She plans to use her column to look for the "unaddressed pieces" of major political issues. "My background as an immigrant, minority woman combined with my commitment to limited government allows me to see unique angles that others might not," she says.

In "The Minimalist President," (page 56) Gene Healy, 42, reviews Coolidge, Amity Shlaes' biography of the 30th president. Healy, a vice president of the Cato Institute and the author of The Cult of the Presidency (Cato), praises Calvin Coolidge for his minimalist approach to running the executive. Despite the praise, Coolidge doesn't top Healy's list of best presidents. "I usually tell people it's Warren G. Harding—and I'm only being half-smartass," he says. "When I'm being fully smartass, I say William Henry Harrison, who kicked the bucket a month after his interminable inaugural address and didn't have time to cause any mischief."