Recommended Reading

An Agnostic Manifesto. Ron Rosenbaum, Slate. An irreligious reply to the New Atheists. "At least we know what we don't know." (Missed this first time round. Thanks to A&L for the pointer.)

Hysteresis makes a comeback. Tim Duy, Fed Watch. The danger that high unemployment is self-sustaining. See also Fed urged to adopt aggressive easing by Robin Harding in the FT.

Where we stand on Basel III. Douglas Elliott, Brookings. (Read alongside his primer on the Basel talks.) "Overall, the news is good..." The banks seem to agree. Elliott is more generous than I would be, but let's see the capital ratios.

Too many laws, too many prisoners. The Economist. An eye-opening look at America's harsh, dysfunctional, and potentially tyrannical system of criminal justice. The essay by Alex Kozinski referenced in the article -- "You're (Probably) a Federal Criminal" --  is worth seeking out in this excellent Cato volume.