World's Richest Countries

Forbes magazine lists the countries with highest per capita income (PPP adjusted):

http://www.forbes.com/sites/bethgreenfield/2012/02/22/the-worlds-richest-countries/

Interesting Articles

Bell Labs and US Innovation:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/opinion/sunday/innovation-and-the-bell-labs-miracle.html

Finance and Innovation:

http://www.economist.com/node/21547998

Tax Expenditures and the True Size of the US Welfare State:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/24/opinion/brooks-america-is-europe.html

Why Greece Should Not Exit the Euro:

http://www.economist.com/node/21547750

Why a recession may be good for your health:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-22/the-worse-the-economy-gets-the-longer-people-live-peter-orszag.html

US Labor Market Issues

Lack of Skilled Talent in Manufacturing

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/us-manufacturing-sees-shortage-of-skilled-factory-workers/2012/02/17/gIQAo0MLOR_story.html

Aging of the Workforce

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/graying-workforce-creates-more-complex-world-for-employers/2012/02/13/gIQAGph1NR_story.html

Long-Term Unemployed Video:

The Idiotic MMT Gets Some Attention

Washington Post has a lengthy piece on the Modern Monetary Theory. Anybody still in possession of basic mental faculties would find MMT ridiculous. There will always be a school of thought that assumes it has figured out the truth and that nobody else quite gets it. Just because a nutty theory exists, it does not mean that it should taught as part of the curriculum!!!

A point worth noting from the article:

“Warren Mosler, a hedge fund manager who lives in Saint Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands — in part because of the tax benefits — is one proponent. He’s perhaps better know for his sports car company and his frequent gadfly political campaigns (he earned a little less than one percent of the vote as an independent in Connecticut’s 2010 Senate race). He supports suspending the payroll tax that finances the Social Security trust fund and providing an $8 an hour government job to anyone who wants one to combat the current downturn.

The theory’s followers come mainly from a couple of institutions: the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s economics department and the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, both of which have received money from Mosler”

Unemployment Rates Amongst the Boomerang Generation

Watch 'Accordion' Families Expand for Boomerang Kids to Move Home on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

NYTIMES article related to the topic:

Unemployment Problem Facing the Younger Generation:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/business/global/for-london-youth-down-and-out-is-way-of-life.html

Economists Do Have A Sense of Humor - Really

Here are some funny tweets from economists on the eve of Valentine's Day:
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/10/fedvalentines/

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2012/02/10/fed-valentines-take-the-web-by-storm/

America's Booming Sector - Agriculture!!

The following video forgets to note that strong overseas demand (from emerging markets) was a critical factor behind the farm sector boom in the US.

Interesting Items - Economics Related

Profile of an Economics Power Couple

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/business/economics-of-family-life-as-taught-by-a-power-couple.html

Dealing With Too Big to Fail Banking Institutions

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/business/making-shareholders-liable-for-big-banks-economic-view.html

Big Data and Careers

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/sunday-review/big-datas-impact-in-the-world.html

US Labor Market Churn

http://www.economist.com/node/21547224

Rising Role of Entitlement Programs in the US
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/02/12/us/relying-on-government-benefits.html

OMG! CHINA and AMERICAN ENGLISH

Watch 'OMG! Meiyu' Introduces China to American Slang on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

The Enduring Appeal of Dickens

BBC looks at the enduring popularity of Dickens in India:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16789282

Interesting Items

Despite Good US Jobs Report, Concerns Remain

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/us-unemployment-war-needs-more-help-from-lawmakers/2012/02/02/gIQAkQYmmQ_print.html

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2012/02/03/the-hiring-hare-will-soon-morph-into-a-tortoise/tab/print/

Brazilian Growth Attracts Workers Back

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/americas/expats-lured-by-brazils-booming-economy/2012/01/13/gIQA4jnasQ_story.html

Economic Cassandras – Is It Time to Ignore Them?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/magazine/economic-doomsday-predictions.html

Economist Christina Romer Highlights the Inefficacy of Government Trying to Prop Up the Manufacturing Sector:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/business/do-manufacturers-need-special-treatment-economic-view.html

Trouble At Japanese Industrial Behemoths

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/feb/05/japan-technology-disaster-doubt

Being Green is Not Easy

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203889904577198922867850002.html