Consider the Evidence

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U.S. economy

Do not let the ‘cure’ destroy capitalism, by Gary Becker and Kevin Murphy

Nationalize? Not so fast, by Alan Blinder

Obama is no socialist, by Alan Blinder

Message to regulators: bank fix needed quickly, by Tyler Cowen

The crisis, and the Geitner plan, explained, by Brad DeLong

Stimulus ostriches, by Brad DeLong

Real capitalists nationalize, by Kevin Drum

In knots over nationalization, The Economist

A second stimulus package will be needed, by Martin Feldstein

When ‘deficit’ isn’t a dirty word, by Robert H. Frank

No return to normal, by James Galbraith (via Mark Thoma)

Job losses hint at vast remaking of U.S. economy, by Peter Goodman and Jack Healy

The misunderstood John Maynard Keynes, by John Judis

Behind the curve, by Paul Krugman

Financial policy despair, by Paul Krugman

Japan reconsidered, by Paul Krugman

Revenge of the glut, by Paul Krugman

The big dither, by Paul Krugman

Will the Geithner plan work?, Paul Krugman, Simon Johnson, Brad DeLong, and Mark Thoma

The Swedish model, by Peter Thal Larsen and Chris Giles

The start of a crisis, through the lens of Avis, by David Leonhardt

What does the worst recession in a generation look like?, by David Leonhardt

Blame the economists, not economics, by Dani Rodrik

The history of banking crises indicates this one may be far from over, by Kenneth Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart

US is ready for Swedish lesson on banks, by Gillian Tett

Successful bank rescue still far away, by Martin Wolf

The world of the past three decades has gone, by Martin Wolf

To nationalize or not?, by Martin Wolf

Living standards, poverty, inequality, well-being

Transforming the EITC to reduce poverty and inequality, by Gordon Berlin

Why is her paycheck smaller?, by Hannah Fairfield and Graham Roberts

The audacity of help, by Chrystia Freeland

The inequality conversation, by Ezra Klein

Now is the time for a less selfish capitalism, by Richard Layard

Savings accounts for all, by Ron Lieber

Capitalism beyond the crisis, by Amartya Sen

Why not arbitrary limits on executive pay?, by Matthew Yglesias

Taxes

Very few small business owners would face tax increases under the president’s budget, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Putting a bulls-eye on a tax loophole, by Andrew Ross Sorkin

History shows that the president’s tax plans are consistent with strong economic growth, by Laura Tyson (via Mark Thoma)

Obama’s revenue shortfall, by Matthew Yglesias

Top marginal tax rates over time, by Matthew Yglesias

Health care

Tax my health benefits, please, by Jonathan Cohn

The inside story of health care’s near-death experience, by Jonathan Cohn

Q and A on the public insurance option, by Jacob Hacker (via Ezra Klein)

A public insurance option primer, by Ezra Klein

A lesson on health care from Massachusetts, New York Times

The Dutch healthcare system, by Michael Steen and Nicholas Timmins

Housing

All boarded up, by Alex Kotlowitz

Foreclosing the crisis, by Edward Glaeser

Cities

Our fifty states matter a lot less than our 100 largest metro areas, by Bruce Katz, Mark Muro, and Jennifer Bradley

Immigration

A slippery place in the U.S. work force, by Julia Preston

Unions

In from the cold?, The Economist

U.S. politics

Ailing G.O.P. risks losing a generation, by Marjorie Connelly

The thirty days of Barack Obama, by Elizabeth Drew

Why Rush is wrong, by David Frum

Barack’s too-long wish list, by William Galston

How did the rich and the poor vote in 2008?, by Andrew Gelman

The state of American political ideology, by John Halpin and Karl Agne

Alternate route: bypassing the G.O.P., by John Harwood

“Socialism!” Boo, hiss, repeat, by Mark Leibovich

The trouble with state government, by Matthew Yglesias

Abroad

Some good news, by William Easterly

Ireland’s economy: the party is definitely over, The Economist

When jobs disappear, The Economist

A continent adrift, by Paul Krugman

The Nordic model of social democracy, by Karl Ove Moene

Making human rights real, by Amartya Sen

A plan B for global finance, by Dani Rodrik

Swedish government resisting calls for Saab rescue, by Matthew Yglesias

Miscellaneous

Internet companies’ business model, The Economist

Tax plan aims to level soccer’s playing field, Financial Times

What I wish I’d known about tenure, by Leslie Phinney (via Chris Blattman)

A walled city in Tuscany clings to its ancient menu, New York Times

How to keep your email inbox (nearly) empty, by Farhad Manjoo

U.S. economy

The real lesson of the New Deal: deficits were too small, not too large, by Bruce Bartlett

There’s no stimulus free lunch, by Gary Becker and Kevin Murphy

(Nearly) nothing to fear but fear itself, by Olivier Blanchard

My economic wish list, by Alan Blinder

Flexibility is out; now we see rigidity’s virtues, by Paul de Grauwe

A guide for the perplexed on fiscal policy, by Brad DeLong

Depression economics: four options, by Brad DeLong

Second biggest bear market ever, by Brad DeLong

Stimulus and uncertainty, by Brad DeLong

Why we need a big fiscal boost program, by Brad DeLong

Go ahead and save; let the government spend, by Robert H. Frank

Tax cuts won’t solve our current economic woes, by Daniel Gross

Bailouts for bunglers, by Paul Krugman

Banking on the brink, by Paul Krugman

The big fix, by David Leonhardt

Time to steer a forceful course for stimulus, by David Leonhardt

Fumble to stumble, by Edward Luce and Krishna Guha

My preferred fiscal stimulus, by Greg Mankiw

Adding up the $787 billion tab, New York Times

Japan’s big-works stimulus is lesson, New York Times

Confusing American companies with American jobs, by Robert Reich

In Japan’s stagnant decade, cautionary tales for America, by Hiroko Tabuchi

Employ overwhelming force, by Martin Wolf

Japanese lessons, by Martin Wolf

What Obama should tell leaders of the group of 20, by Martin Wolf

Why Obama’s new TARP will fail to rescue the banks, by Martin Wolf

Obama on Sweden, by Matthew Yglesias

Living standards, poverty, inequality, well-being

Changes, up and down the ladder, by Edmund Andrews

The ‘w’ word, re-engaged, by Jason DeParle

CEO pay: don’t look to Japan for answers, by Kenji Hall

Why making the rich poorer can make the poor (effectively) richer, by Ezra Klein

Climate of change, by Paul Krugman

Recession and poverty, by James Kvaal and Ben Furnas

A bold plan sweeps away Reagan’s ideas, by David Leonhardt

Bailout needs some strings attached to limit pay, by Gretchen Morgenson

Refuted economic doctrines: trickle-down, by John Quiggin

Luxury or necessity?, by Catherine Rampbell

Finally a progressive budget, by Robert Reich

Four better ways of fixing the CEO pay debacle, by Eliot Spitzer

Creating new US jobs and closing the income gap, by Edward Wolff

Taxes

A grand bargain on taxes, by William Galston

Like having Medicare? Then taxes must rise, by David Leonhardt

Braced for a higher tax bill, some may dodge the bullet, by Ron Lieber and Tara Siegel Bernard

Stimulating the well-off, by Bob Williams

The case for more tax brackets, by Matthew Yglesias

Globalization

The integration of the world economy is in retreat on almost every front, The Economist

Protectionism and stimulus, by Paul Krugman

It’s no time for protectionism, by Greg Mankiw

Health care

Health care reform for dummies, by Jonathan Cohn

The new push for American health security, by Jacob Hacker

Health care reform in eight easy steps, by Ezra Klein

No lunch left behind, by Alice Waters and Katrina Heron

Education

Invest in early education, by Nancy Folbre

Our greatest national shame, by Nicholas Kristof

Recess is crucial too, by Tara Parker-Pope

Housing

Killing (or maiming) a sacred cow: home mortgage deductions, by Edward Glaeser

Cities

How the crash will reshape America, by Richard Florida

Green cities, brown suburbs, by Edward Glaeser

Transportation

Faster trains, maybe, but still behind others in the world, New York Times

Crime and punishment

Five myths about prison growth, by John Pfaff

Unions

Why we need stronger unions, and how to get them, by Robert Reich

Supporters of the Employee Free Choice Act

U.S. politics

Poof goes the purple dream, by Jonathan Alter

What Obama could learn from Reagan, by William Galston

Partisanship: good or bad?, by Andrew Gelman

Rich and poor still vote differently in red and blue states, by Andrew Gelman

History tells Obama to turn on the bipartisan charm, by Edward Luce

Why Republicans won’t support the stimulus, by Robert Reich

In praise of bipartisanship, by Michael Tomasky (via Ezra Klein)

Abroad

The other Iran, by Roger Cohen

Asia needs a new engine of growth, The Economist

In Japan, new jobless may lack safety net, by Martin Fackler

Social democrats and capitalism, by Henry Farrell

Canada banks prove envy of the world, Financial Times

China’s jobless, Financial Times

Roma bear brunt of Hungary’s downturn, Financial Times

Solitary shore (Iran), by Roula Khalaf and Najmeh Bozorgmehr

India’s economy is hurtling ahead, but for many people life is still precarious, by James Lamont

After the fiesta (Spain), by Victor Mallet

Job losses pose a threat to stability worldwide, New York Times

The global middle class, Pew Research Center

Is more effective international regulation the answer?, by Dani Rodrik

Crisis hits eastern Europe, by Stefan Wagstyl

Miscellaneous

A reconciliation on gay marriage, by David Blankenhorn and Jonathan Rauch

Are blogs ruining economic debate?, by Henry Farrell

Greats put the super into superstition, by Simon Kuper

Student expectations as cause of grade disputes, New York Times

The vanishing liberal justice, New York Times

Improving scholarly journals, by Lee Sigelman

Goodbye to the age of newspapers, by Paul Starr

An about-face on gay troops, by Owen West

U.S. economy

Don’t let crisis kill long-term growth, by Daron Acemoglu

Credit crunch?, by Dean Baker

Does stimulus stimulate?, by Bruce Bartlett

The fiscal stimulus: what will work?, by Bruce Bartlett

Obama plan is bold, but not bold enough, by Peter Boone and Simon Johnson

To save the banks we must stand up to the bankers, by Peter Boone and Simon Johnson

Six blunders en route to a crisis, by Alan Blinder

Learning from FDR’s mistakes, by Alan Brinkley

The confidence surplus, by David Brooks

What the U.S. can learn from Japan’s lost decade, BusinessWeek

What instead?, by Tyler Cowen

Four fixes for America’s fiscal fiasco, by Clive Crook

Stimulus skeptics, by Brad DeLong

Past crises inspire little confidence about the outcome of this one, The Economist

The case for fiscal stimulus, by Martin Feldstein (via Mark Thoma)

The evidence on tax cuts vs. spending is … confusing, by Justin Fox

It’s about credit markets, not just stimulus, by Howard Gleckman

Will the tax cuts help fix the economy?, by Howard Gleckman

The battle over whether fiscal policy or monetary policy will fix the economy faster, by Daniel Gross

Reviving America’s economy, by Kristin Guha

How economists analyze the stimulus, by Arnold Kling

Bad faith economics, by Paul Krugman

Economists, ideology, and stimulus, by Paul Krugman

How late is too late?, by Paul Krugman

Ideas for Obama, by Paul Krugman

The Obama gap, by Paul Krugman

Stimulus arithmetic, by Paul Krugman

Wall Street voodoo, by Paul Krugman

A stimulus plan with merit, and misses too, by David Leonhardt

The economy is bad, but 1982 was worse, by David Leonhardt

How we were ruined and what we can do, by Jeff Madrick

Stimulus skeptics, by Greg Mankiw

Dissecting the stimulus debate, by Megan McArdle

Stimulus plan: the need and the size, by Robert Reich

Has America lost its mojo?, by Kenneth Rogoff

The job impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment plan, by Christina Romer and Jared Bernstein

Tax cuts, by Mark Thoma

The stimulus: less or more?, by Mark Thoma

Nationalize like real capitalists, by Steve Waldman

Economy made few gains in Bush years, Washington Post

Why Obama’s plan is still inadequate and incomplete, by Martin Wolf

On the failure of macroeconomists, by Justin Wolfers

The Swedish model is the best hope for western banks, by Christopher Wood

Living standards, poverty, inequality, well-being

Demographics and fiscal sustainability: should we save more or work more?, by Torben Andersen

In a “bad” year, the good news of our times, by Radley Balko (via Tyler Cowen)

Number of homeless families climbing due to recession, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Unemployment insurance reforms should be part of economic recovery package, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

A safety net in need of repair, The Economist

Fear of falling (executive pay), Financial Times

Should Congress put a cap on executive pay?, by Robert H. Frank

Can businesses do well and do good?, by Ed Glaeser

The case for small-government egalitarianism, by Ed Glaeser

Target practice: lessons for poverty reduction, by Jodie Levin-Epsetin and Webb Lyons (via Inclusionist)

Without adequate public spending, a catastrophic recession for some, by Lawrence Mishel and Heidi Shierholz

A rich income in 2006 was $263 million, New York Times

Consumers never had it so good, by Catherine Rampbell

Stimulate the economy by mending our safety nets, by Robert Reich

A firm of one’s own, by Corey Rosen

The public supports a major effort to fight poverty, by Ruy Teixeira

An unhappy year, by Justin Wolfers

And fry it up in a pan, by Justin Wolfers

Is ignorance really bliss?, by Justin Wolfers

Taxes

A way to boost demand and reduce long-term budget problems, by Len Burman

Dubious tax math, by Justin Fox

The estate tax stays, by Daniel Hamermesh

A future consumption tax to fix today’s economy, by Alan Krueger

The case for bigger government, by Jeffrey Sachs

Health care

American health care since 1994, by Ben Furnas

Congress set to renew health care for children, New York Times

Education

Improving academic preparation for college, by Robin Chait and Andrea Venezia

Do better schools lead to more growth?, by Eric Hanushek and Ludger Woessman (via Shawn Fremstad)

How does early education and care in the U.S. stack up to other developed countries?, by Sara Mead

Cities, neighborhoods

What will save the suburbs?, by Allison Arieff

Cities Americans like, Pew Research Center

Unions

Bill easing unionizing is under heavy attack, by Steven Greenhouse

U.S. politics

FDR and the first 100 days, by Tony Badger

State-by-state vote swings are more uniform than they used to be, by Andrew Gelman

What is the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs?, by Ezra Klein

LBJ’s revenge: the 2008 election and the rise of the Great Society coalition, by Philip Klinkner and Thomas Schaller

More on those declining turnout rates, by John Sides

Abroad

A two-state solution is the only way, by Tobias Buck and Roula Khalaf

The dominion of the dead (Gaza), by Roger Cohen

Wages in Germany, by Stefan Collignon

Global migration and the downturn, The Economist

The hundred years’ war, The Economist

European emerging markets suffer most, Financial Times

European pessimism over political opportunities for ethnic minorities overlooks a nascent trend, Financial Times

Human cost rises as recession deepens, Financial Times

Japanese economy worsening rapidly, Financial Times

Ireland: things fall apart, Financial Times

Israel’s goals in Gaza?, by Thomas Friedman

The Gaza boomerang, by Nicholas Kristof

Where sweatshops are a dream, by Nicholas Kristof

Fighting to preserve a myth (Gaza), by Gideon Lichfield

Advice to Obama’s Africa team: don’t change too much, by Todd Moss

The other inauguration to be celebrated (Ghana), by Todd Moss

The Irish miracle fizzes, by Landon Thomas Jr.

What makes Ahmadinejad smile?, by Fareed Zakaria

Miscellaneous

Trying anything and everything for autism, by Jane Brody

End times, by Michael Hirschorn

How to help your child learn to read, by Alan Kazdin and Carlo Rotella

Living apart for the paycheck, New York Times

The myth of rampant teenage promiscuity, by Tara Parker-Pope

Your nest is empty? Enjoy each other, by Tara Parker-Pope

Can economists be trusted?, by Uwe Reinhardt

Doing the math to find the good jobs, Wall Street Journal

U.S. economy

Paper wealth and the economic crisis, by Dean Baker

How to give banks confidence to lend to businesses, by Lucian Bebchuk and Itay Goldstein

Japanese fiscal policy in the 1990s, by Tyler Cowen

Fed’s new strategy to cut cost of borrowing, Financial Times

The big bang of bailouts, by Jeffrey Garten

Big three, meet the “little eight”, by Daniel Gross

A finger in the dike, by Nicholas Kristof

Deficits and the future, by Paul Krugman

The Madoff economy, by Paul Krugman

What to do, by Paul Krugman

Obama’s economic opportunity, by Robert Kuttner

$73 an hour: adding it up, by David Leonhardt

Grim job report not showing full picture, by David Leonhardt and Catherine Rampell

Crises and government, by Greg Mankiw

All recessions not created equal, New York Times

A proposal: employment-linked tax incentives, by Dani Rodrik

Automaker bankruptcies would cost up to 3.3 million U.S. jobs, by Robert Scott

Which is best: monetary policy, government spending, or tax cuts?, by Mark Thoma

How to squeeze the most from a stimulus plan, by Louis Uchitelle

Bernanke confronts the challenge of a lifetime, by Martin Wolf

Profit-maximization as the sole goal of a corporation, by Martin Wolf

Living standards, poverty, inequality, well-being

Improving the measurement of poverty, by Rebecca Blank and Mark Greenberg

How severance stacks up, BusinessWeek

Widening inequality means a democracy at risk, by Benjamin Friedman

Cause for alarm? Understanding recent trends in teenage childbearing, by Frank Furstenberg

The politics of fighting poverty in faltering economies, by William Galston

Is unemployment benefit a good thing after all?, by Tim Harford

Do liberals hate charity?, by Ezra Klein

The problem of wages, by Ezra Klein

Measuring the safety nets of the jobless, New York Times

Software that opens worlds to the disabled, New York Times

Creating second chances, by Devah Pager

Why do Americans still hate welfare?, by R.M. Schneiderman

EEGs show brain differences between poor and rich kids, UCBerkeleyNews

Nordic blogging, by Matthew Yglesias

Globalization

Finance, redistribution, globalisation, by Giuseppe Bertola and Anna Lo Prete

Obama has to lead the way on trade, by Clive Crook

How to sell anti-protectionism, by Leif Pagrotsky

Taxes

Taxes of the rich and famous, by Kevin Drum

Tax havens, Financial Times

Why wait to repeal tax cuts for the rich?, by Robert H. Frank

VATs next?, by Howard Gleckman

Health care

An unhealthy individual health insurance market, by Lester Feder and Ellen-Marie Whelan

The case for public plan choice in national health reform, by Jacob Hacker

The importance of the number, by Ezra Klein

What does health care reform mean? How quickly can we get there? LBJ’s example, by Maggie Mahar

Can Americans afford Medicare?, by Uwe Reinhardt

Education

No education silver bullet, by Dana Goldstein

Improving educational outcomes for poor children, by Brian Jacob and Jens Ludwig

College may soon become unaffordable for most in U.S., by Tamar Lewin

How Finland educates the youngest children, by Sara Mead

Housing

White House philosophy stoked mortgage bonfire, by Jo Becker, Sheryl Gay Stolberg, and Stephen Lebaton

The myth of the happy homeowner, by Richard Florida

Cities

Homes on the cheap, by Ryan Avent

New York, New York: America’s resilient city, by Ed Glaeser

U.S. politics

Experience first, by Ezra Klein

The most liberal Congress in history?, by Nolan McCarty

Polarization, by Nolan McCarty

The future of conservatism, by Richard Posner

Five big changes that are transforming our country, by Ruy Teixeira

Millenials’ views about government intervention, by Ruy Teixeira

How historic a victory?, by Michael Tomasky

Abroad

Never again, for real, by Madeleine Albright and William Cohen

French unions losing influence in downturn, by Katrin Bennhold

Does peacekeeping work?, by Chris Blattman

Why the coup in Guinea must be overturned, by Chris Blattman

How migrating workers from eastern Europe are improving labour markets, by Charlemagne

Why the left in Europe is not benefiting from the economic crisis, by Charlemagne

The end of the end of the revolution (Cuba), by Roger Cohen

If I were James Purnell… (UK), by Chris Dillow

Unmade in China, by Geoff Dyer

Coups and attempted coups are going out of fashion, The Economist

Democracy in Latin America, The Economist

Welfare reform in the U.K., The Economist

A slap-up immigration debate in Sweden, Financial Times

Preventing genocide, by Lexington

Massacre unfurls in Congo, despite nearby support, New York Times

Unemployed immigrants struggle as Spain rolls up the welcome mat, New York Times

A domino effect in the global work force, by Floyd Norris

Good news in bad times, by Jeffrey Sachs

Miscellaneous

Abortion politics didn’t doom the G.O.P., by Ross Douhat

Our mutual joy, by Lisa Miller

In a first, gay rights are pressed at the U.N., New York Times

Barcelona is winning with style and a new coach, New York Times

U.S. politics

Why getting your way as president isn’t just a numbers game, by Matt Bai

Election debriefing, by Larry Bartels

Last of the culture warriors, by Peter Beinart

The emerging center-left majority, by Robert Borosage and Stanley Greenberg

Darkness at dusk, by David Brooks

Two cheers for American democracy, The Economist

Who cares whether there’s an electoral realignment?, by Henry Farrell

Nonblack voting for Obama by region, by Andrew Gelman

Red/blue/rich/poor: 2008 update, by Andrew Gelman

Data matter, by Howard Gleckman

Why the rich voted for Obama against their own economic interest, by Daniel Gross

America the liberal, by John Judis

A conservative nation, by Ezra Klein

The next center, by Ezra Klein

Rambling about Kansas, by Ezra Klein

Obama and the war on brains, by Nicholas Kristof

The Obama agenda, by Paul Krugman

Palin’s rising star?, by Josh Marshall

Presidential candidates’ share of white vote, 1968-2008, by Timothy Noah

Matt Bai wrong on demand for government, by Brendan Nyhan

Dissecting the changing electorate, New York Times

Margins of victory, New York Times

The fundamentals mattered, by John Sides

There is no realignment, by John Sides

The Obama challenge: make four transformations work together, by Theda Skocpol

How did Obama win over white, blue-collar Levittown?, by Michael Sokolove

The realignment opportunity, by Paul Starr

Digging into the 2008 exit polls, by Ruy Teixeira

U.S. economy

Capitalism is more than a spectator sport, by Alan Blinder

Panic in Detroit, by Jonathan Cohn

Restore confidence first, by Tyler Cowen

The New Deal didn’t always work either, by Tyler Cowen

Why I was wrong, by Brad DeLong

Putting the air back in, The Economist

How to get a bang from the stimulus buck, by Justin Fox

Debt man walking, by John Judis

Let’s have another cup of coffee, by Michael Kinsley

Depression economics returns, by Paul Krugman

The lame-duck economy, by Paul Krugman

Top priority is stabilizing the patient, by David Leonhardt

What would Keynes have done?, by Greg Mankiw

Americans have lost their appetite for spending, by Floyd Norris

Why America needs an economic strategy, by Michael Porter

The mini depression and the maximum-strength remedy, by Robert Reich

No more economic false choices, by Robert Rubin and Jared Bernstein

Regulation should be international, by Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff

A darker future for us, by Robert Samuelson

A $1 trillion answer, by Joseph Stiglitz

Slow recovery of labor markets, by Mark Thoma

Obama’s economic challenges, by Martin Wolf

Living standards, poverty, inequality, well-being

U.S. intragenerational economic mobility from 1984 to 2004, by Gregory Acs and Seth Zimmerman

Social mobility: an uphill battle, by Chris Dillow

The poverty of the official poverty rate, by Nicholas Eberstadt (via Will Wilkinson)

Where has all the income gone?, by Terry Fitzgerald (via Greg Mankiw)

Unions seek new rules, by Steven Greenhouse

Will the safety net catch the economy’s casualties?, by Steven Greenhouse

100 days for the middle class, by Anne Kim and Jim Kessler

Who is in the middle?, by Eduardo Porter

Bridge the wealth gap, by Robert Shiller

Trapped in the new “you’re on your own” world, by Robert Solow

Rein in chief’s pay? It’s doable, by Andrew Sorkin

Equitable and efficient redistribution, by Mark Thoma

Meet the HENRYs (high earners, not rich yet), by Shawn Tully (via Justin Fox)

The economic decline of America’s middle class, 2000-2006, by Jennifer Wheary, Thomas Shapiro, Tamara Draut, and Tatjana Meschede

The economic downturn takes its toll on well-being, by Justin Wolfers

Taxes

A consumption tax, by Robert H. Frank

A few tax policy suggestions for our new president, by Jeff Frankel

Health care

President Obama’s path to greatness: health care as stimulus, by Dean Baker

Five myths about our ailing health-care system, by Sharon Brownlee and Ezekiel Emanuel

The beginning, not the end, by Ezra Klein

Why does U.S. health care cost so much? Parts one and two, by Uwe Reinhardt

Education

Obama and our schools, by Nicholas Kristof

Why universal pre-K?, by Sara Mead

Importance of test scores in college admissions increases, New York Times

Environment

The climate for change, by Al Gore

Abroad

Why the Germans just hate to spend, spend, spend, by Bertrand Benoit

The problems, and benefits, of urbanisation on a vast scale, The Economist

Rejoin the world, by Nicholas Kristof

Stunned Icelanders struggle after economy’s fall, New York Times

Miscellaneous

Gay marriage and a moral minority, by Charles Blow

Professors’ liberalism contagious? Maybe not, New York Times

The loving decision, by Anna Quindlen

The other side, by Mark Thoma

U.S. economy

The next meltdown: credit-card debt, BusinessWeek

Crisis? Not if we take a long view, by Michael Clemens (via Chris Blattman)

Three trends and a train wreck, by Tyler Cowen

Two big intellectual victories for Ben Bernanke, by Brad DeLong

Everything you need to know about the financial crisis, by Doug Diamond and Anil Kashyap

The stimulus plan we need now, by Martin Feldstein

Complex finance contemplates a more fettered future, Financial Times

Buy now: why Uncle Sam must put everything on sale, by Laurence Kotlikoff and Ed Leamer

Gordon does good, by Paul Krugman

Let’s get fiscal, by Paul Krugman

To do, not to do, by Paul Krugman

The cost of resolving financial crises, by Luc Laeven

Lesson from a crisis: when trust vanishes, worry, by David Leonhardt

How did it all happen?, by Megan McArdle

Full of doubts, U.S. shoppers cut spending, New York Times

Measuring regulatory swings, by Catherine Rampell

Spending stalls and businesses slash U.S. jobs, by Louis Uchitelle

U.S. politics

Working for the working-class vote, by Matt Bai

The irrational electorate, by Larry Bartels

Why the economy fares much better under Democrats, by Larry Bartels

The class war before Palin, by David Brooks

Why is it likely that McCain will lose?, by Brad DeLong

Presidential polls in the final weeks of the campaign, by Robert Erikson

An authentic coalition, by Ezra Klein

Can a president tame the business cycle?, New York Times

One-party control, New York Times

Campaign events vs. the fundamentals, by Brendan Nyhan

The hardest vote, by George Packer

Senate Democrats don’t need 60 seats to reach their magic number, by Bruce Reed

Party loyalty is alive and well, by John Sides

Democracy’s myopia problem, by Matthew Yglesias

Here we go again — maybe, by Julian Zelizer

Living standards, poverty, inequality, well-being

Poverty reduction strategies for the next decade, Brookings Institution

The national minimum wage: evidence of its impact on jobs and inequality, Centre for Economic Performance (via Shawn Fremstad)

A safety net for the least fortunate, by Peter Edelman, Mark Greenberg, and Harry Holzer (via Mark Thoma)

The good life, by Claude Fischer

Wealth gap is focus even as it shrinks, by Robert Frank

Measuring misery, by Phil Izzo

Reinventing the American dream, by Christopher Jencks (via Matt Lewis)

Reforming unemployment benefits, by Alan Krueger

Next victim of turmoil may be your salary, by David Leonhardt

Banks’ bailout unlikely to crimp executive pay, New York Times

Infant deaths drop in U.S., but rate is still high, New York Times

Keeping wary eye on crime as the economy sinks, New York Times

Growing unequal? Income distribution and poverty in OECD countries, by the OECD

Do Americans still hate welfare?, by R.M. Schneiderman

Taxes

Putting U.S. corporate taxes in perspective, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

FAQ on taxes, by Economists for Obama

Share the wealth, by Howard Gleckman

For incomes below $100,000, a better tax break in Obama’s plan, by Steven Greenhouse

New life for the death tax, by Floyd Norris

Tax-cut follies, by Uwe Reinhardt

The public rejects conservative approach to taxes, by Ruy Teixeira

Housing

Bailing out homeowners: what does it mean?, by Dean Baker

The trouble with a homeowner bailout, by David Leonhardt

The goal of increasing home ownership, by Mark Thoma

Abroad

Think the U.S. housing bust is bad?, by Catherine Rampbell

Urgent need for IMF action, by Dani Rodrik

A shift from bumbling to sensible policy (UK), by Gillian Tett

Miscellaneous

Observations on the Milton Friedman Institute at the University of Chicago, by Gary Becker

Exploding heads deathmatch, by Henry Farrell

Incidents from my career, by Paul Krugman