I’d say these are musts —
First off, if you are anywhere around a newsstand or bookstore, do buy the August issue of Harper’s. This is a really outstanding issue. Petra Bartosiewicz’s account of FBI terrorism investigations post 9/11 contains a lot of detail I hadn’t heard before that is genuinely jaw-dropping. Thomas Franks’s “The Age of Enron” also is worth the price of the magazine. There’s a lot of other stuff that looks interesting I haven’t gotten to yet.
On the Web:
Jonathan Chait, “What Caused the Deficit? A Reply to Megan McArdle.” And why does the Atlantic continue to embarrass itself by keeping that peabrain McArdle on its staff?
Kevin Drum writes about Presidential Power. Kevin is a bit more of a Pollyanna than I am, but I agree with his basic point about the limits of presidential power. He also makes the case that George W. Bush was a weaker president than he is remembered to have been. In his second term he actually didn’t get anything significant passed, I don’t think. But the stuff he he sold to Congress in his first term did enough damage to hobble the country for generations to come. And while you’re at Kevin’s place, also read “The Story of the Economy” (short) and “Why Unions Matter.”
More “toldjah so” from Krugman.
Andrew Leonard, “The Roots of Thursday’s Market Meltdown.” And what will the markets do today, I wonder? Job growth is up a bit, which might reduce the panic a little. We’ll see.
Megan McArdle is a farce of natu… I’m sorry, make that FORCE of na… No, I was right the first time.
I think she’s the stem cell created love child of Bill Krisol and Charles Krauthammer, neither one of whom has ever been right. If any of those three told me that jumping down off a cliff would kill me, I’d know that jumping off that cliff would be the safest thing on the planet that I could ever do.
And “The Atlantic” will never be as big as the Pacific if it keeps people like McArdle on its payroll.
“the stem cell created love child of Bill Kristol and Charles Krauthammer.”
Now THAT is quite the visual.