Recommended Readings

Why a European, even a talented one, should not lead the IMF. The Economist. Well said. Also:

Let there be a real contest. FT editorial.

Background on the succession. Alan Beattie, FT.

Stan Fischer may run. Bob Davis, WSJ.

Who pays the taxes in the US? Chuck Marr and Brian Highsmith, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. The income tax falls lightly on the less well-off, but the tax system as a whole does not. "When all federal, state, and local taxes are taken into account, the bottom fifth of households paid 16.3 percent of their incomes in taxes, on average, in 2010. The second-poorest fifth paid 20.7 percent."

Is World War II still "the good war"? Adam Kirsch, NYT. "[A] necessary but terrible war is simplified into a 'good war', and we start to feel shy or guilty at any reminder of the moral compromises and outright betrayals that are inseparable from every combat."