U.S. economy
Why it’s worse than you think, by Daniel Gross
Embedded vs. non-embedded inflation, by Paul Krugman
Why central banking is no longer boring, by Guido Tabellini
Living standards, poverty , inequality, well-being
What if Adam Smith was right about poverty?, by Don Arthur
A financial transactions tax, by Dean Baker
Should the government make us happy?, by Ryan Blitstein
The rise in American inequality, by Ian Dew-Becker and Robert Gordon
Social mobility: the nasty arithmetic, by Chris Dillow
Upward intergenerational mobility in the United States, by the Economic Mobility Project
How big government got its groove back, by William Galston
The end of summer vacation, by Steven Greenhouse
Shaky economic times are shakier for women, by Heidi Hartmann
Schools, skills, and synapses, by James Heckman
A new social contract, by Michael Kazin and Julian Zelizer
Surging wage growth for topmost sliver, by Lawrence Mishel
Inconspicuous consumption, by Virginia Postrel
Trends in men’s earnings volatility, by Donggyen Shin and Gary Solon
Is income volatility really rising? For whom?, by Justin Wolfers
Taxes
Tax evasion, 2008, by Clive Crook
What the Obama and McCain tax plans would mean for real taxpayers, by Howard Gleckman
Fiscal poison pill, by Paul Krugman
Three questions for McCain, by David Leonhardt
A preliminary analysis of the 2008 presidential candidates’ tax plans, by the Tax Policy Center
Obama and McCain: Who would pay taxes?, by Bernard Wasow
Health care
A fresh look at health care reform, part I and part II, by Maggie Mahar
Health care in the Netherlands, by Maggie Mahar and Niko Karvounis
The Emanuel-Fuchs voucher system proposal, three parts (here, here, and here), by Ezra Klein
Financing the U.S. health system: issues and options for change, by Meena Seshamani, Jeanne Lambrew, and Joseph Antos
Housing
Housing slump rivals deepest slowdowns in 60-plus years, by Amy Hoak
What can the US government do to put you in a new home tomorrow?, by Ezra Klein
Home not-so-sweet home, by Paul Krugman
Education
A broader, bolder approach to education, by Helen Ladd, Pedro Noguera, Tom Payzant, and others
Does education really make you smarter?, by Norman Nie and Saar Golde
Summer learning, summer losses, by Christina Satkowski
Cities
A league table of liveable cities, by Tyler Brûlé
The urbanist party, by Felix Salmon
Density and intercity rail, by Matthew Yglesias
Trade
This global show must go on, by Tyler Cowen
Migration
World’s refugee count in 2007 exceeded 11 million, U.N. says, New York Times
Labor’s ambivalence on immigration, by Roger Waldinger
Milton Friedman’s argument for illegal immigration, by Will Wilkinson
Environment
The European Union’s emissions trading system in perspective, by Denny Ellerman and Paul Joskow
Carbon clincher, Financial Times
U.S. politics
The general election map, by Marc Ambinder
Rumors the Obama campaign shouldn’t try to correct, by Christopher Beam
Obama rides the wave, by Thomas Edsall
Ranking states by the liberalism/conservatism of their voters, by Andrew Gelman
Democrats in Congress, by Ezra Klein
Democratic primary fight is like no other, ever, New York Times
The fall of conservatism, by George Packer
True campaign reform: bring people into politics, by Theda Skocpol
Jason Furman, Social Security, and Wal-Mart, by Mark Thoma and others
Abroad
Turkey turns away from the future, by Cengiz Aktar
Let us now praise coups, by Paul Collier
Norway’s wealth: not just oil, by Thorvaldur Gylfason
Exodus of the Polish plumber, by Andrew Leonard
Italy gives cultural diversity a lukewarm embrace, New York Times
Great collection of articles. Here is a piece by Elizabeth Gudrais in the current issue of Harvard Magazine you might also like. It’s called “Unequal America – Causes and consequences of the wide—and growing—gap between rich and poor.”
Ms. Gudrais gives a very good overview of the issues in a clear and concise way. The article is here.