What We Read Today 23 December 2012

Econintersect: Click Read more >> below graphic to see today’s list.

The top of our reading list is an essay comparing the treatment of bankers who break the law with drug dealers …… and the last article points out that more than 13% of workers will be unemployed at some time during 2013.

• For banks, nothing is illegal (The Physics of Finance)  Hat tip to Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture.
  

• War and Piste (Elliott D. Woods, Outside) Skiing in Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush.

• What Response to Chuck Hagel Says About Us (David Swanson, FireDogLake)

• Why $500 is the Apple Level to Watch Right Now (Bernie Schaeffer On Charts)

• Quelle Suprise! The Geithner Doctrine Not Only Puts Banks Above the Law, It Also Serves to Excuse Their Bad Behavior (Yves Smith, Naked Capitalism)

• US Birth Rate Hits New Low – A Nation of Singles (John Mauldin and Gary D. Halbert, Mauldin Economics Outside the Box)

• The Big Fail (David Weigel, Slate) Why John Boehner’s last, best hope at avoiding the “fiscal cliff” exploded in his face.

• 4 Reasons to Skip the Cloud (John Brandon, Inc., 24 October 2012)

• Glenn Hubbard, Leading Academic and Mitt Romney Advisor, Took $1200 an Hour to Be Countrywide’s Expert Witness (Matt Taibbi, Taibblog, Rolling Stone)

• A projected 13.1 percent of workers will be unemployed at some point in 2013 (Heidi Shierholz, Economic Policy Institute)