"Technology Gets a Piece of Stimulus"

Excited about funneling money to electronic health records (How will we keep them secure? Biometrics!), but what function should technology play in a 21st century stimulus package when old-fashioned public works projects are time-tested?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/26/technology/26techjobs.html?pagewanted=1&em

What's going on in England?

Hey guys, what's going on over there!? The US news media is overly preoccupied with the US economy, so we don't get much news about the UK...but this article is terrifying. What is the feeling in the city?

The Myth of the Autocratic Revival

Interesting article in the January/February Foreign Affairs about the relationship between politics and economy...namely, capitalism in a liberal democracy (ie, US/UK) versus capitalism in an autocratic government (ie, China/Russia). The authors argue that capitalism is best supported by a liberal democracy, and that current autocratic nations will continue to liberalize as their rising middle class demands transparency and greater control over decisions impacting their lives and wealth.

Third Runway at Heathrow

After years of debate, it looks like there will be a third runway at Heathrow.

Wall Street's Structure and the Root Causes of the Financial Crisis

One of the best and clearest explanations that I have read on the root causes of the financial crisis by someone who was lived through (and helped cause) several of them: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200812/blodget-wall-street

Chief Performance Officer of the United States

Obama just introduced Nancy Killefer as the first Chief Performance Officer. She is a big-wig at McKinsey and will be tasked with making government more efficient. Will it work? Does corporate strategy have a place in government?