Essays, etc.:

• Edward Harrison, How big banks earned so much money this quarter, naked capitalism, 22 April 2009.


• David Fiderer, IMF Numbers Show a Great Economic Hole That Will Frame Partisan Debate, The Huffington Post, 22 April 2009.


• Matt McGrath, World's major rivers 'drying up', BBC News, 22 April 2009.
  
  Clare Davidson, Why water, oil and coal do mix, BBC News, 09 February 2009.
  Explains how water is necessary for electric power generation. Has links to many other articles on water resources; see particularly: Mapping future water stress.
  
  Andrea Ball, Despite recent rain, drought persists: Normal rainfall in 2009 still not enough to fix dry soil, low lakes, stressed plants., Austin American - Statesman, 25 April 2009.


• Mark Schneider, Guatemala: the next to fall?, GlobalPost, 16 April 2009.
  Another instance where poverty plus low social investment (schools, health care, etc) plus drug prohibition results in violence and corruption.


• Glenn Greenwald, Meet the Press and the media's distortions of the prosecutions debate, Salon.com, 20 April 2009.
  
  Glenn Greenwald, The Pulitzer-winning investigation that dare not be uttered on TV, Salon.com, 21 April 2009.
  [Television networks employ and prominantly feature Pentagon propagandists.]
  
  Glenn Greenwald, Jane Harman: Angry, partisan, civil liberties extremist, Salon.com, 21 April 2009.
  
  * Glenn Greenwald, Three key rules of media behavior shape their discussions of "the 'torture' debate", Salon.com, 23 April 2009.


• * James Kwak, The Missed Opportunity, The Baseline Scenario, 22 April 2009.
  The comments here are quite good.
  
  via: Andrew Leonard, Why do the banks think they can push Detroit around?, How the World Works, Salon.com, 22 April 2009.


• James V. DeLong, The Coming of the Fourth American Republic, The American (an AEI publication), 21 April 2009.


• Lewis testified that U.S. urged silence on Merrill deal, Reuters, 23 April 2009.


• Eamonn Fingleton, How the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times Buried the Madoff Scandal for at Least Four Years, CounterPunch.org, 23 April 2009.
  
  Meanwhile, Fortune magazine says "The case began with his flabbergasting confession, which set off the investigation."
  James Bandler & Nicholas Varchaver, How Bernie did it, Fortune, 24 April 2009.
  
  Harry Markopolos, Wikipedia.


• Allison Kilkenny, Noonology, The Smirking Chimp, 24 April 2009.
  
  On torture apologist Peggy Noonan ("Some things in life need to be mysterious") and similar thinkers. Russ Feingold speaks for many. A recent Noonan column (24 Apr 2009).
  
  Paul Krugman, Reclaiming America’s Soul, The New York Times, 24 April 2009.


• The Hearing - An Economic Policy Discussion Moderated by Simon Johnson and James Kwak (of The Baseline Scenario), The Washington Post, initiated April 2009.


• Jeremy Scahill, Are Leading Democrats Afraid of a Special Prosecutor to Investigate Torture?: Congress was Briefed in Real Time on Bush-Era Torture Tactics. Is That Why They Prefer Whitewash Commissions and Closed Door Hearings?, CounterPunch.org, 24 April 2009.


• Frank Rich, The Banality of Bush White House Evil, The New York Times, 26 April 2009.


• Tom Jacobs, Conservatives Live in a Different Moral Universe -- And Here's Why It Matters, AlterNet.org, 25 April 2009.


• Glenn Greenwald, Democratic complicity and what "politicizing justice" really means, Salon.com, 24 April 2009.
  
  Glenn Greenwald, David Broder and media culpability for Bush crimes, Salon.com, 26 April 2009.
  
  * Glenn Greenwald, Top Senate Democrat: bankers "own" the U.S. Congress, Salon.com, 30 April 2009.


• Andrew J. Bacevich, Farewell, the American Century: Rewriting the Past by Adding In What's Been Left Out (Tom Englehart, Tomgram: Andrew Bacevich, Whose Century Was That?), TomDispatch, TomDispatch.com, 28 April 2009.
  
  This essay also appears at Salon.com with video of Bacevich.


• Daniel B. Wood, The Crisis Hasn't Hit Everywhere: 10 States Weathering the Economic Storm, AlterNet.org, 27 April 2009.
  
  The states are: Alaska, Wyoming, Louisiana, Nebraska, Texas, Iowa, New Mexico, Utah, Oklahoma, South Dakota.
  Not on the East or West coasts; lesser participation in housing boom; natural resources a large fraction of economy; diversified economy [the last two are not necessarially mutually exclusive, though historically in undeveloped states/nations the initial exploitation of natural resources is associated with a lack of economic diversification].


• Karen J. Greenberg, Kiss the Era of Human Rights Goodbye: What Bush Willed to Obama and the World, (Tom Engelhardt, Tomgram: Karen Greenberg, Human Rights in the Dust), TomDispatch, TomDispatch.com, 30 April 2009.
  
  Mark Danner, The Red Cross Torture Report: What It Means, The New York Review of Books, Volume 56, Number 7, 30 April 2009.


• Cenk Uygur, Condi Rice Pulls A Nixon: When the President Does It, That Means It is Not Illegal, The Huffington Post, 30 April 2009.
  Also posted at DailyKos.
  Includes video.

Essays, etc.:

• Linda Scott & Roberto Villalpando, Time lapse of drought conditions in Texas, Austin American-Statesman, updated weekly.


• Edouard Husson, Dollar Hegemony and the Economics of Unilateralism: France and Germany have just missed another opportunity to challenge the dollar standard, AntiWar.com, 10 April 2009.
  
  Michael Hudson, Financing the Empire, CounterPunch.org, 30 March 2009.


• Philip Sherwell, Barack Obama uses Bush funding tactics to finance wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Telegraph.co.uk, 10 April 2009.


• Justin Raimondo, The Suicide of the West: Who killed our economy -- "foreigners," or Washington, Wall Street, and the War Party?, AntiWar.com, 10 April 2009.


• Eric Alterman, The Impressive Hypocrisy of the GOP, The Daily Beast, 09 April 2009.


• Glenn Greenwald, New and worse secrecy and immunity claims from the Obama DOJ, Salon.com, 06 April 2009.


• Paul Krugman, Tea Parties Forever, nytimes.com, 12 April 2009.
  
  Rachel Weiner, Krugman: "Republicans Have Become Embarrassing To Watch", The Huffington Post, 13 April 2009.


• Frank Rich, Awake and Sing!, The New York Times, 11 April 2009.


• Keith Bradsher, China Slows Purchases of U.S. and Other Bonds, The New York Times, 12 April 2009.


• Matt Taibbi, The peasant mentality lives on in America, The Smirking Chimp, 14 April 2009.


• Terri Gross, Fighting America's 'Financial Oligarchy', Fresh Air, PBS, 15 April 2009.
  Interview of Simon Johnson of The Baseline Scenario and author of The Quiet Coup, The Atlantic, May 2009.
  
  Martin Wolf, Is America the new Russia?, FT.com, 14 April 2009.
  
  See also:
  
  Dmitry Orlov. Reinventing Collapse: The Soviet Example and American Prospects. Gabriola Island, British Columbia, Canada: New Society Publishers, June 2008.
  (publisher; Google Book Search; Amazon.com)


• Glenn Greenwald, The ultimate reaping of what one sows: right-wing edition, Salon.com, 14 April 2009.


• Barry Ritholtz, How to Puff Up Earnings, Goldman Sachs Style, The Big Picture, 14 April 2009.
  
  Barry Ritholtz, Fmr Secy O’Neil: TARP Goal Deceive Public, The Big Picture, 15 April 2009.


• Michael Lind, America is not a Christian nation, Salon.com, 14 April 2009.
  "Religious conservatives argue the Founding Fathers intended the United States to be a Judeo-Christian country. But President Obama is right when he says it isn't."


• Glenn Greenwald, The differing views of the "rule of law" in Spain and the U.S., Salon.com, 14 April 2009.
  
  Glenn Greenwald, The significance of Obama's decision to release the torture memos, Salon.com, 17 April 2009.
  
  Chris Floyd, Tortured Logic: Obama Writes Off Old Crimes While Promoting New Outrages, Empire Burlesque, 16 April 2009.
  
  Michael Hayden & Michael B. Mukasey, The President Ties His Own Hands on Terror, WSJ.com, 17 April 2009.
  Bushies attempt to defend the indefensible.
  
  Scott Shane, Waterboarding Used 266 Times on 2 Suspects, The New York Times, 19 April 2009.
  
  Marcus Baram, Pundits Whitewash Torture, The Huffington Post, 19 April 2009.
  
  Scott Shane & Mark Mazzetti, In Adopting Harsh Tactics, No Look at Past Use, The New York Times, 21 April 2009.
  Note: "Harsh Tactics" is the NYT euphemism for Torture.
  
  Senator Carl Levin, New Report: Bush Officials Tried to Shift Blame for Detainee Abuse to Low-Ranking Soldiers, The Huffington Post, 21 April 2009.
  
  Paul Krugman, Grand unified scandal, Paul Krugman Blog, 22 April 2009.


• Drew Westen, The Five Strands of Conservatism: Why the GOP is Unraveling, The Huffington Post, 16 April 2009.


• Martin Feldstein, Inflation is looming on America’s horizon, FT.com, 19 April 2009.


• Nathan Gardels, The Coming Demise of the Dollar Reflects the Rise of the Rest, The Huffington Post, 21 April 2009.
  An interview with Joseph Stiglitz.


• Nelson D. Schwartz, Spain’s Falling Prices Fuel Deflation Fears in Europe, The New York Times, 20 April 2009.


• Paul Krugman, China’s Dollar Trap, The New York Times, 02 April 2009.


• Mark Engler, Neocon Fantasies of Empire Crushed: the New Global Reality, AlterNet.org, 21 April 2009.
  Originally published as Empire Foreclosed?, Foreign Policy in Focus, 17 April 2009.


• Hale "Bonddad" Stewart, If This Is An Improving Economy, We're In Trouble, The Huffington Post, 19 April 2009.
  Antidote to deceptive happy-talk from various government officials.


• naked capitalism : I often find the essays and links at this blog most instructive.


• Link to notable recent IMF reports.

Essays, etc.:

• Matt Taibbi, The Big Takeover, Rolling Stone, 19 March 2009.
  "The global economic crisis isn't about money - it's about power. How Wall Street insiders are using the bailout to stage a revolution."
  
  The Dirty Dozen, Rolling Stone, 25 March 2009.
  "Meet the bankers and brokers responsible for the financial crisis - and the officials who let them get away with it."


• Glenn Greenwald, A major difference between conservatives and progressives, Salon.com, 24 March 2009.


• Extreme Ice, NOVA, PBS, 24 March 2009.
  
  About the melting of glaciers and polar ice sheets; a major issue is to understand the rate of melting and the increase of that rate. Don't overlook that episode's page of references to Links and Books. I especially recommend:
  
  * Al Gore, New thinking on the climate crisis, TED.com, March 2008.


• Thomas B. Edsall, Between a Rock and a Hard Place, The Huffington Post, 23 March 2009.


• Yves Smith, Has the Gaming of the Public-Private Partnership Begun?, naked capitalism, 25 March 2009.


• Barry Ritholtz, New Home Sales Fell 41% in February 2009, The Big Picture, 26 March 2009.


• Steve Thompson & Tanya Eiserer, Dallas police chief apologizes for conduct of officer who drew gun on NFL player outside hospital, The Dallas Morning News, 26 March 2009.


• Glenn Greenwald, Comparing the U.S. to Russia and Argentina, Salon.com, 26 March 2009.


• Bill Moyers, William Greider on the Geithner Plan, Bill Moyers' Journal, PBS, 27 March 2009.


• Nicholas Dawidoff, The Civil Heretic - Freeman Dyson, The New York Times Magazine, 29 March 2009.


• Jeffrey Sachs, Making Rich Guys Richer, The Huffington Post, 29 March 2009.
  
  Ann Pettifor, Challenging the Dogma of Yesterday's Men, The Huffington Post, 29 March 2009.


• ** Simon Johnson, The Quiet Coup, The Atlantic, May 2009.
  
  "The crash has laid bare many unpleasant truths about the United States. One of the most alarming, says a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, is that the finance industry has effectively captured our government—a state of affairs that more typically describes emerging markets, and is at the center of many emerging-market crises. If the IMF’s staff could speak freely about the U.S., it would tell us what it tells all countries in this situation: recovery will fail unless we break the financial oligarchy that is blocking essential reform. And if we are to prevent a true depression, we’re running out of time."
  
  James Kwak, What the IMF Would Tell the United States, If It Could, The Baseline Scenario, 26 March 2009.


• Glenn Greenwald, Britain responds to the "rule of law" nuisance, Salon.com, 27 March 2009.


• * Michael Hudson, Financing the Empire, CounterPunch.org, 30 March 2009.


• James K. Galbraith, No Return to Normal: Why the economic crisis, and its solution, are bigger than you think, The Washington Monthly, March/April 2009.


• Obama Administration, The Costs of Inaction: the Urgent Need for Health Reform, HealthReform.gov, 30 March 2009.


• Jonathan Chait, Why the Democrats Can't Govern, The New Republic, 15 April 2009.


• Peter Finn & Joby Warrick, Detainee's Harsh Treatment Foiled No Plots, The Washington Post, 29 March 2009.
  
  Dan Froomkin, Bush's Torture Rationale Debunked, WashingtonPost.com, 30 March 2009.
  
  Susie Madrak, The Torture Apologists Have No Place Left To Hide, Crooks and Liars, 30 March 2009.


• Sam Tanenhaus, Conservatism Is Dead: An intellectual autopsy of the movement, The New Republic, 18 February 2009.
  
  Alan Wolfe, Conservatism and a Tale of Two Kristols, TNR.com, 09 February 2009.


• Barry Ritholtz, Financial Institutions, Market Cap, 1999-2009, The Big Picture, 31 March 2009.
  
  This image captures an important part of "the big picture."


• William Greider, Trust Your Guts, The Nation, 26 March 2009.
  
  (This article appears at AlterNet.org under the title "A Scary Corporate Coup Is Under Way -- We've Got to Stop It." It covers similar ground as the articles by M. Taibbi and S. Johnson above.)


• Michael Osinski, My Manhattan Project: How I helped build the bomb that blew up Wall Street, New York, 29 March 2009.
  
  Felix Salmon, Recipe for Disaster: The Formula That Killed Wall Street, Wired, 23 February 2009.
  
  James Kwak, Structured Finance for Beginners, The Baseline Scenario, 29 March 2009.


• Yves Smith, Japanese Expert Criticizes US Wishful Thinking on Economic Crisis, naked capitalism, 02 April 2009.


• Thomas Geoghegan, Infinite debt: How unlimited interest rates destroyed the economy, Harper's Magazine, April 2009.
  
  About an economy based upon Usury.


• Der Spiegel staff, Joseph Stiglitz: "It's going to be bad, very bad", Salon.com, 03 April 2009.


• Jeffrey Sachs, The Geithner-Summers Plan is Even Worse Than We Thought, The Huffington Post, 08 April 2009.


• Bill Moyers & Michael Winship, Obama: Stop protecting Wall Street bankers from Main Street, Salon.com, 09 April 2009.
  
  Bill Moyers, William K. Black: CSI Bailout, Bill Moyers' Journal, PBS, 03 April 2009.


• Glenn Greenwald, Larry Summers, Tim Geithner and Wall Street's ownership of government, Salon.com, 04 April 2009.