The bylines on Bills & Beans are original. They are not real people, and we won’t pretend otherwise.
Each name is a fixed editorial voice with a defined beat — the kind of claim it owns, not just a subject area. A name is accountable in a way a masthead isn’t: you can open any byline’s archive, read every piece under it, and check each one against the beat it claims. Every piece, whoever it’s credited to, goes through the same sourcing and verification process before it runs, and corrections are noted at the foot of the piece they fix.
What you can’t do is look one of these writers up somewhere else, because they don’t exist outside this site. That is the honest version, and it’s the only one we’ll give you.
Coffee
Beat: technique and mechanism — does it change the cup?
Methodical and hands-on, with a healthy skepticism of hype until the numbers back it up. Michael writes the pieces that turn fussing with grinders and ratios into something you can use.
Start here: Grind Size Isn’t a Setting. It’s the Decision That Actually Matters.
Beat: science and measurement — the why, with numbers.
Technical and rigorous, focused on what is happening chemically between the bean and the cup: extraction, water, roast, freshness.
Start here: Why Your Coffee Tastes Different at Home Than at the Café
Beat: cost, market and sourcing — what it costs, who is selling.
Reported from the trade side. Catherine covers what a cup costs, where the money goes, and what the label on the bag verifies.
No pieces yet.
Money
Beat: worked arithmetic — the numbers behind a claim.
Direct and tactical. If a piece of advice doesn’t hold up against a real paycheck and a real bill schedule, it doesn’t run.
Start here: Roth vs. Traditional IRA: The Break-Even Is a Tax Rate, Not an Age
Beat: overlooked data and the edges standard advice skips.
Calm and data-first. Andrew writes on how markets and technology are changing what an ordinary investor holds — and never makes a trade call.
No pieces yet.
Beat: behaviour — why smart people get this one wrong.
Story-driven and data-grounded. Rebecca covers the decisions people get wrong on purpose, and the research on why.
No pieces yet.
Liberty
Beat: legal record and doctrine — statute, case, and the mechanism of the rule.
Works from primary text: statutes, case law, the language of the Constitution. Lays out what a right does and doesn’t cover, including the strongest version of positions he disagrees with.
Start here: Assault Rifle vs. AR-15: Two Terms, Two Different Meanings
Beat: bill text and current status — what changed, who it reaches.
Reporting-led and sharp. William reads the bill, the ruling, or the rule as enacted and tells you what it changed.
No pieces yet.
Beat: historical and civic context — how we got here.
History-trained. Margaret makes the Founding era and the history behind today’s rights debates feel current, without lecturing.
No pieces yet.
Corrections
If we got something wrong, email info@billsandbeans.com with the piece and the line. A correction is made in the piece itself and noted at its foot with the date; we don’t quietly overwrite. You can also reach the desk through the Contact Us page.