FM newswire for 22 January, articles for your morning reading

Today’s links to interesting news and analysis…

1. Powerful article:  “In the absence of guns“, Mark Steyn, The American Spectator, June 2000
2. A reminder of our real past (not the myth):  “On Native Grounds“, Daniel Lazare, The Nation, 22 May 2006 — A people who lose their past (warts and all) lose themselves.
3. “Social conflict in rural China“, Yu Jianrong, China Security, Spring 2007
4. Analysis suggesting that the current global financial imbalances might continue or even grow:  “The Costs and Implications of PBC Sterilization“, John Greenwood, Cato Journal, Spring/Summer 2008
5. Valuable explanation of how we got into this mess:  “Why de-leveraging requires higher income … and flatter income distribution“, Société Générale, 9 September 2209 2009 
6. One of the most important articles of the year:  “ClimateGate Analysis“, John P Costella,”, Science and Public Institute, 10 December 2010 — The actual emails, in sequence, with annotations.  As gripping reading as any novel, but far more important.  Convicted by their own words.
7. The cover-up continues of the “suicides” at Guantanamo:  “The Official Response Begins“, Scott Horton, Harper’s, 19 January 2010
8. The global warming propaganda continues:  “Data gaps and errors may have masked warming“, Olive Heffernan, blog of Nature magazine, 19 January 2010
9. A comprehensive rebuttal to the above by Roger Pielke Sr (eminent meteorologist), posted at his website

Today’s focus:  the economy

If the US (or worse, the world) experiences a another leg down in this recession, the consequences will be severe.  We’re in the 3rd year, and many families, businesses, and governments have exhuasted their reserves — and will go over the edge if the current stable period ends with another drop.

• increased foreclosures and bankruptcies in the US, from already post-depression peak levels.
• disintegration of the European Monetary Union.
• probable political and structural change in many western economies, including ours

Some important information about this:

• “Tracking the Global Recession”, St. Louis Fed — The recession has stabilized at low levels, but with few signs of recovery.
• “Statement of the NBER Business Cycle Dating Committee on the Determination of the Dates of Turning Points in the U.S. Economy, National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), 24 November 2009 — About double-dip recessions
• “U.S. Economy Still Mired in Recession, Feldstein Says“, Bloomberg, 17 December 2009 — Feldstein is a former President of the NBER and member of its cycle dating committee.

Hat tip on these references to The Big Picture.