What We Read Today 30 March 2014

Econintersect: Every day our editors collect the most interesting things they find from around the internet and present a summary “reading list” which will include very brief summaries of why each item has gotten our attention. Suggestions from readers for “reading list” items are gratefully reviewed, although sometimes space limits the number included.

• The Next Problem: Too Much Profit (Justin Lahart, The Wall Street Journal) Too much profit a problem? It is when it derives from failing to invest. Eventually failure to invest hits the end of a runway and profits can crash.

• The 10 most photographed places on Earth (Rebecca Scott, Thrillist) Nice slide show for a Sunday.

• A U.S.-Saudi Move to Lower Oil Prices? (Nick Cunningham, OilPrice.com) Hat tip to TalkMarkets. The author suggests that the Saudis are not likely to join the U.S. to put financial pressure on the Russians by driving oil prices lower because it is not in their self interest. This article is in response to a Steve LeVine article in Quartz: How the US might persuade the Saudis to co-conspire in unleashing an oil weapon against Putin.

• Caring too much. That’s the curse of the working classes (David Graeber, The Guardian) The caring nature of poor people has been “weaponized” against them.

There are 9 articles discussed ‘behind the wall’. One of them is an article all by itself discussing a Manhattan Institute paper featured by John Mauldin this week in Thoughts from the Frontline.