On Afghanistan

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/opinion/02friedman.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
I've mentioned a few times that I can see both sides of the Afghanistan debate and I don't think the choice is an easy one. Thomas Friedman articulately lays out the best case I can think of for not sending more troops.

 

 

http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2009/12/the-future-of-africa.html

This happened in South America. The problem with this is that you can't easily reverse it - the second you nationalize everything, it becomes very hard to do business with you (one reason Venezuela suffered so much from lower oil prices this recession was because no international companies would help them cut costs for fear of having their assets seized). So it's important to prevent this happening in the first place.

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/africaCrisis/idUSGEE5AS0EV

Stock exchanges to back Somali piracy. This would be hilarious if it weren't so serious.

 

http://taxvox.taxpolicycenter.org/blog/_archives/2009/12/1/4394671.html

subsidizing PUPPIES.

 

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2009/12/07/091207ta_talk_surowiecki

Why China saves so much, and how to fix the imbalances this causes.