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

Public Unions–Is California Next?

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal’s Wonder Land column, Daniel Henninger writes that serious Californians, on the right and the left, know how much fiscal trouble they’re in.”

We’ve Become a Nation of Takers, Not Makers

online.wsj.com

“Stephen Moore writes in The Wall Street Journal that more Americans work for the government than in manufacturing, farming, fishing, forestry, mining and utilities combined.”

A Requiem for Detroit

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Main Street columnist Williams McGurn writes that Detroit, a once-great American city, today repels people of talent and ambition.”

Medical Progress, Please

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Business World columnist Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. writes that if the FDA gets out of the way, devices like MelaFind will save many lives.”

What Happened to the American Declaration of War?

www.stratfor.com

“War is a serious matter, and presidents and particularly Congresses should be inconvenienced on the road to war.”

Princeton Professor Gains Cult Status With 3,200 Essays on Facebook

chronicle.com

“Elephant hunters head to Africa. Salmon fishers head to Alaska. Jeff Nunokawa, a professor of English at Princeton University, heads to Facebook.”

In Today’s Market, the Wisdom of Standing Pat

www.businessweek.com

“The market’s drop then gain after Japan’s triple crises shows the stock rally’s resilience and the futility of timing market hiccups.”

Cellphones Track Your Every Move, and You May Not Even Know

www.nytimes.com

“A German Green party politician went to court and found that his cellphone company had recorded and saved his longitude and latitude more than 35,000 times.”

Mike Munger Archives | EconTalk

www.econtalk.org

I highly recommend a series of “conversations” featuring Russ Roberts (economics professor at George Mason University) and Mike Munger (economics professor at Duke); see http://www.econtalk.org/archives/_featuring/mike_munger/. These guys are remarkably skilled at explaining how to “think” like an economist on a wide array of very interesting topics, most of which have important policy implications.

Progressive Gets Leg Up With On-Board Driving Monitor

online.wsj.com

“Progressive has introduced a new type of car insurance that offers a discount to policyholders based on real-time information about how and when they drive.”

Missing: Public Companies

www.cfo.com

“Why is the number of publicly traded companies in the U.S. declining?”

The Problem With Partners

www.nytimes.com

“As we enter Libya’s unknown, we should not react so strongly against unilateralism’s risks that we ignore multilateralism’s weaknesses.”

Reagan’s Legacy and the Current Malaise

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Steve Forbes writes that lower taxes and a strong dollar could spur growth once again.”

Whatever Happened to IPOs?

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal says you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure this one out.”

Michigan’s War on the Middle Class

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Main Street columnist William McGurn writes that high taxes and regulation have strangled Michigan’s economy and led to an exodus from the state.”

Uncle Sam and the Hostile Takeover

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Jonathan Macey of Yale Law School says that activist investors should have time to acquire significant stakes in companies they may want to take over and shouldn’t be blocked by incumbent managements.”

Raise Rates to Boost the Economy

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Andy Kessler says the Federal Reserve should raise short-term interest rates to reduce the escalating prices in food, gas and other commodities. This will constitute a de facto price cut for consumers.”

Charles Krauthammer – Et tu, Jack Lew?

www.washingtonpost.com

“The OMB director knows the Social Security trust fund is a fiction.”

Confronting Gadhafi Is Not Enough

online.wsj.com

“Former Prime Minister Tony Blair on a framework for shaping the democratic revolution in Libya and the Middle East.”

Mega-Banks and the Next Financial Crisis

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, James Freeman interviews Paul Singer, the hedge-fund manager who recognized the risks of subprime mortgages and bet against them—and now warns that monetary policy could cripple American banks again.”