What We Read Today 19 July 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.

• Putin’s Approval in Russia Soars to Record, America’s Plunges to Near Zero (Wolf Richter, Wolf Street) Putin is a hero at home and and the Russia military is also at approval ratings not seen in decades. And now 39% of Russians think their elections are honest, up from 23% last year and 17%seven years ago. What has changed in Russian elections to improve their opinion? Absolutely nothing. Moral: Don’t take survey poll responses literally – they are more about emotions than logic.

• 6 reasons to get nuts about your health (Julia Merz, MSN Healthy Living) If you are “going nuts” it may actually be good for you (in moderation).

• New Book: Bubble Economics (GEI News) Here are a couple of great graphics from the book that are not shown in the GEI News article.

• Disturbing Facts About Organic Food (BuzzFeed, MSN Video) We have had articles about the purported benefits of organic food. Below is a presentation about lack of benefits. Note: Sign-in the MSN may be required.

There are 12 articles discussed today ‘behind the wall’.

The final article discussed resulted in a short article discussing the economic effects of the Fed raising interest rates and/or selling treasury securities from its balance sheet.

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