From Telos, Fred Siegel on Taking Communism away from the Communists: The origins of modern American liberalism. From FT, what the French revolution can teach America: The problem with Obama's economic team is that, like the court of Louis XVI, it has inherited all the bad reflexes of the ancien regime; what we decided was old fashioned and in need of modernisation was, in fact, an effective check on an activity that for 100 years had been illegal, for good reason; dangers in a world of disillusionment: We are having to rethink the social contract without the narrative that sustained successful western societies for three decades: that the market knows more than the government; and a review of The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett. From Good, a look at how carbon trading hurts the poor. Out of date defense of conservatism: Herbert Gintis reviews Free to Choose: A Personal Statement by Milton Friedman. From New Matilda, how many cartoonists does it take to change a government? From New York, with their studded new roster and retro-chic stadium, the Yankees are a throwback to another New York — the one that crashed last fall. Simon Critchley on cynicism we can believe in (and more of The Book of Dead Philosophers). What color is a superhero? More black people are obsessing over comic books than ever before.
