Assorted Links (5/12/2010)

Here’s a list of articles that I have been reading lately:

Disaster unfolds slowly in the Gulf of Mexico – The Big Picture – Boston.com

www.boston.com

“In the three weeks since the April 20th explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, and the start of the subsequent massive (and ongoing) oil leak, many attempts have been made to contain and control the scale of the environmental disaster.”

PolitiFact | Will says Greece’s economy is same size as Dallas-Fort Worth’s

www.politifact.com

“During the May 9, 2010 edition of ABC’s This Week, commentator George Will sought to add some context to one of the previous week’s biggest stories — the financial troubles in Greece, which prompted a bailout by its European neighbors that drew protests in Athens and shook financial markets across …”

In-the-Red State — The American, A Magazine of Ideas

www.american.com

“When we properly account for Social Security, our national deficit proves worse.”

Mahalanobis

mahalanobis.twoday.net

“Michael Fleming and Nicholas Klagge provide an overview of the U.S. dollar swap line program—a system of reciprocal currency arrangements with foreign central banks—introduced by the Federal Reserve in late 2007 to address global disruptions in dollar funding markets.”

Was There Good Reason for a Housing Boom? – Economix Blog – NYTimes.com

economix.blogs.nytimes.com

“At least part of the housing construction boom of the 2000s served a legitimate economic purpose, an economist writes.”

Larry Harris: How to Prevent Another Trading Panic – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, former SEC economist Larry Harris says that the SEC should require price limits for all buy and sell orders in electronic trading.”

Holman Jenkins: Welfare Wagons – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Business World columnist Holman Jenkins writes that the new electric cars from Chevy and Nissan are powered by taxpayer credits.”

Martin Feldstein: Extend the Bush Tax Cuts—For Now – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Martin Feldstein writes in The Wall Street Journal that deficits are a real problem but the recovery is still too fragile to choke off growth with higher rates.”

Fannie mae and Chris Dodd – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal writes that Democrats leave Chris Dodd alone to defend Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.”

Michael B. Mukasey: Shahzad and the Pre-9/11 Paradigm – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey writes in The Wall Street Journal that in the 1990s we mocked the ineptness of jihadists and were confident civilian courts could handle them. Look where that got us.”

The Judge in the Gray Flannel Suit – Politics – The Atlantic

www.theatlantic.com

“What’s disturbing is that this is what our nomination process now selects for: someone who appears to be in favor of nothing except self-advancement. Then we complain when the most passionate advocates for ideas are the lunatic fringe.”

Why Are Cancer Costs Rising? – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com

freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com

“People are living longer, but getting cancer.”

Nathan Myhrvold: Could this laser zap malaria? | Video on TED.com

www.ted.com

“Nathan Myhrvold and team’s latest inventions — as brilliant as they are bold — remind us that the world needs wild creativity to tackle big problems like malaria. And just as that idea sinks in, he rolls out a live demo of a new, mosquito-zapping gizmo you have to see to believe.”

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