Behind the Byline | Vivek Kaul and the art of Easynomics

livemint.com:

How to explain the budget to an engineer" is a testament to his explanatory approach towards financial news. Some of his other pieces include the likes of “Explaining inflation to your boyfriend", “How to explain the Budget to your grandma", and “How to explain the budget to a teenager". The 2008 global financial crisis was a pivotal moment for many around the world.

During this period, there was a surge in interest among the general populace to understand the shifting dynamics of the global economy, as the crisis impacted the daily lives of millions. Financial news was in demand. Kaul turned towards fulfilling this demand with his easily accessible writing, demystifying complex economic changes.

Kaul, who is the author of theaward-winning newsletterEasynomics, talks about his love for crime fiction, his writing process, his reading habits, and much more. In 2005, I landed a job at a newspaper to cover personal finance, a topic I knew little about at the time. Surprisingly, after a few months, I discovered it was quite simple once you cut through the clutter.

My focus then broadened after the 2008 financial crisis hit, introducing jargon like “subprime" into everyday news. As a reader, I was lost in technical terms, but I got a chance to write about the crisis due to a space that needed filling in the newspaper. My article in September 2008 unexpectedly garnered a massive response, to the extent that my official email inbox couldn't handle the influx.

This overwhelming feedback made me aware of people's strong interest in understanding money and personal finance. Driven by this realisation, I increased my output on these topics and, by 2010, had penned around 100 articles. Writing more about finance not only satisfied