"...calling someone a reductionist sociologist..."<p>Good point.  So who is this guy?  His name is Tim Harford, and according to the book jacket of <i>The Undercover Economist</i>:<p>"Tim Harford writes the <i>Financial Times Magazine</i> "Dear Economist" column, in which he draws upon the latest economic theories to provide tongue-in-cheek answers to readers' personal dilemmas.  He also works at the World Bank, where he is the lead writer for the Chief Economist of the International Finance Corporation.  Formerly an economics editorial writer at the Financial Times, Harford has served as both an economist for a major oil company and an economics tutor at Oxford University.  He lives in Washington DC."<p>So I think it's fair to call him an economist and a writer.