He is an Associate Professor of Public Policy of Duke University, and his research focuses on health policy issues as they relate to end of life issues, particularly Medicare policy. He is the author of Balancing the Budget is a Progressive Priority that will be published by Springer in April 2012. He began blogging in June 2009 at his own freeforall blog before joining The Incidental Economist Blog from March 2011 to March 2012.