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

Jenkins: Blowouts Will Not Always Be Prevented – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Business World columnist Holman Jenkins says Americans are curiously unwilling to acknowledge known risks.”

A Moratorium, Drilled – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal writes on a federal judge’s decision to block the Obama Administration’s ban on deepwater drilling.”

Robert C. Pozen: $100,000 is Plenty for Deposit Insurance – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Robert C. Pozen writes that raising the cap will enhance the ability of weak banks to expand their deposit base and cause trouble for the FDIC.”

BP Spill May Be Less Than Doomsayers Think: Tadeusz W. Patzek – BusinessWeek

www.businessweek.com

“Two months have passed since the blowout of the BP Plc exploratory Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico. Much more is now known about a string of fateful decisions taken in the course of drilling this well.”

The Runaway General | Rolling Stone Politics

www.rollingstone.com

“Here’s the link to the controversial Rolling Stone article that is making lots of news today!”

Op-Ed Columnist – Faustus Makes a Deal – NYTimes.com

nytimes.com

“From the confluence of recent events, one might think the Democrats had made a deal with the Devil — and still managed to lose.”

Le Monde on The Brink | Monday Note

www.mondaynote.com

Hat tip to Tyler Cowen for the pointer to this article. Of particular interest is the following excerpt: “In France, firing a printing plant employee is hugely expensive. The gent is paid €50,000 per year, works 32 hours per week and 164 days per year. Firing him costs about €466,000 – that’s a French government estimate…”

The Gulf Spill and Compensation for Disaster Victims | Psychology Today

www.psychologytoday.com

“When man-made or natural disasters strike, do the victims deserve compensation? Most people assume the answer is yes, but the case for compensation is not always clear.”

Faith, Doubt, and U.S. Foreign Policy — The American, A Magazine of Ideas

www.american.com

“To the degree that Obama believes in promoting democracy, his efforts will flounder if they continue to lack moral realism: a deep sense of religion’s corruptibility.”

Financial Reform Is Disaster For Banks, Consumers: Bove – CNBC

www.cnbc.com

“New financial services regulations will be so disastrous that Congress will need to repeal them to undo the damage they will cause, banking analyst Dick Bove said Monday.”

Paul H. Rubin: A Tale of Two Disasters – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In the Wall Street Journal, Paul Rubin writes that former President Bush was blamed for local failures after Katrina. Meanwhile, President Obama got a free ride for weeks as federal failures mounted during the Gulf spill.”

William McGurn: Obama Should Publicly Criticize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from the Oval Office – WS

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, William McGurn says the president needs to call attention to the role of Fannie and Freddie in the housing bust and the financial crisis.”

Bret Stephens: The Man Who Would Be King – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Global View columnist Bret Stephens explains what Rudyard Kipling tells us about Barack Obama.”

Oil in the Gulf, two months later – The Big Picture – Boston.com

www.boston.com

“62 days have passed since the initial explosion of BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, and the crude oil and natural gas continue to gush from the seafloor.”

Op-Ed Columnist – Trim the ‘Experts,’ Trust the Locals – NYTimes.com

nytimes.com

“The chaotic organization of the federal oil spill cleanup effort highlights the need for increased local control.”

ObamaCare and the Independent Vote – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In the Wall Street Journal, David Brady, Daniel Kessler and Douglas Rivers write that independents opposed to ObamaCare could swing the November election.”

Think Globally, Sue Locally – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In the Wall Street Journal, Jonathan Drimmer writes that plaintiffs lawyers mount PR campaigns against corporations to trash their image and extort a settlement.”

Review & Outlook: The ‘Paralyzing Principle’ – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal says in an editorial that the Gulf oil spill is reviving a discredited environmental theory known as the precautionary principle.”