The science of self-control

Whether you can resist the temptation to immediately chuck down a marshmallow as a four-year-old predicts your future success better than any IQ test. Interesting article in the New Yorker.

French prosperity?

The cover of the current Economist asks whether the French system is looking better in light of the recent crisis. Of course, they don't think so.

Colbert: Rand Illusion

Ayn Rand is apparently gaining popularity again. Watch here. "Atlas Shrugged" is has a sales rank of #52 on amazon.com. Sadly Hayek's "Road to Serfdom" is only about #600.

Obama and France

I found this funny take on the French vs the American economic system on Greg Mankiw's blog. Click here to watch Veronique de Rugy, adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, talk about France.

Socialist nightmare

The Daily Show's take on the "socialist nightmare" in Sweden: here.

US mobility

Mobility is often touted as a major strength of the US economy. A side effect of the housing market's implosion is that mobility is the lowest in 47 years, according to this NYT article.

Forging a New Capitalism

The President of France writes in the New York Times that "The world expects that we build, together, a new form of capitalism, better regulated, with a greater sense of morality and solidarity." At the same time, he says that "This crisis is not the crisis of capitalism. On the contrary, it is the crisis of a system which has drifted away from the most fundamental values of capitalism." And then he adds "We decided that in future not one financial player, not one institution, not one product would be beyond the control of a regulatory authority."