Research Report: Peter Goodman

While Peter Goodman is currently the Executive Business Editor at The Huffington Post, he worked as the National Economic Correspondent at The New York Times from 2007 to 2010 and as a financial writer and foreign correspondent for The Washington Post the decade prior, spending many years abroad throughout his career.  Goodman also authored a book in 2009 called PAST DUE: The End of Easy Money and the Renewal of the American Economy that focused on the causes of the financial crisis and ensuing American recession. 

After growing up in New York City and graduating from Reed College, Goodman began his writing career as a journalists for the Japan Times in Kyoto, Japan.  He then was a freelance journalist for several newspapers for three years in Southeast Asia before returning to the U.S. to write for The Anchorage Daily in Alaska.  Soon after, Goodman started at The Washington Post where he became the telecommunications reporter just in time to experience the rise of the Internet in our world.  Goodman then spent five years across the ocean, reporting as he traveled, focusing on China’s economy and the country’s growing foothold in the global economy.  Returning again to the U.S., he then worked as the international economics correspondent for The Post in New York before moving on to The Times.  Goodman was a key player in covering the recession while at The Times and wrote his first book soon after the financial crisis.

Considering his experience as a reporter for both The New York Times and The Washington Post, and his widely accepted knowledge of economy and business, it is not surprising how well Peter Goodman is able to explain and draw conclusions about how each of the three catastrophes mentioned in his article were handled.  His background in reporting, and likely the cultural experiences he gained during his five years spent in China, allowed him to make inferences by looking at the “big picture”.  Not only did he report on the way each company handled its own publicity issue, but also drew on how the history and leadership of the company affected how they did that handling.  Specifically in the publicity crisis of Toyota, Goodman’s knowledge of Japanese culture and his understanding of how Japan’s economy works allowed him to fairly explain why they handled the situation the way they did while critiquing how they were mistaken.

Perhaps Goodman’s experience abroad enabled him to fairly report on the three crises and identify quotes to incorporate from key players in each crisis.  His experience and knowledge are extremely evident in his writing.  He tells each tale with such honesty and reason that the reader cannot help but agree with what he says, but also manages to point directly to what mistakes were made by each company.  Additionally, Goodman is able to portray an understanding of why each company made the decisions they did and not cast any company or individual in an intentionally negative light, despite the consequences of each catastrophe discussed.