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In Post-Thanksgiving Period, Consume Great Journalism

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If you’ve been on a “tryptophan trip” lately—defined by “medical experts” as the blind ingestion of all forms of turkey, which then triggers a deep sleep—you might have missed some great journalism. Here are a few links for when you’ve polished off the turkey, reestablished a circadian rhythm, and feel ready to devour some news:

“In China, Cultivating the Urge to Splurge”: This New York Times Magazine piece from Nov. 28, 2010, was an in-depth exploration of China’s current economy and what it needs to do to keep expanding. In some ways, China’s problems are the reverse of ours: they must consume more and invest less. An illuminating and interestingly written article by David Leonhardt.

“A Bully Finds a Pulpit on the Web”: This article gave me the chills (Sunday NYT, Business, Nov. 28, 2010). For anyone shopping online, read this cautionary tale and then demand that your local government, law enforcement officials, and watchdog agencies step up and do the bare minimum to protect consumers. What I found the most galling was not that the bully was doing this—or that he was so well-known—but that the victimized consumer’s pleas for help went almost entirely ignored (until, of course, the New York Times came a-calling). Kudus to David Segal for going through what must have been immense legwork and reporting to put this piece together.

(Since it is shopping season, consider exploring this story, “The Great Cyberheist,” for more on law enforcement’s woeful inability to stop cybercrime—or even recognize it when it’s right under its nose—in this piece, also from the NYT Magazine [Nov. 10, 2010].)

There are more—“What Good Is Wall Street?” in The New Yorker, Nov. 29, comes to mind—but perhaps that’s enough fodder for now!

Support great print journalism by giving a subscription gift this holiday season to The New York Times, to The New Yorker, or to any other great newspapers and news periodicals out there. After all, knowledge is the gift that keeps on giving!

Science Friday: The Science of Foreclosure

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… And the anatomy of fraud. Matt Taibbi reports on the “rocket docket” handled by a Florida court, where systematic fraud flourishes, the sense of US justice all but disappears, and a judge sees nothing wrong with using intimidation to get his way, which is to make bad mortgages disappear, human beings be damned.

Here’s a slice from the article (which absolutely should be read in full):

A recent divorcee delinquent in her payments, she has come to court today fully expecting to be foreclosed on by Wells Fargo. She sits down and takes a quick look around at the lawyers who are here to kick her out of her home. “The land has been in my family for four generations,” she tells me later. “I don’t want to be the one to lose it.”

Judge Soud pipes up and inquires if there’s a plaintiff lawyer present; someone has to lop off this woman’s head so the court can move on to the next case. But then something unexpected happens: It turns out that Kessler is supposed to be foreclosing on her today, but he doesn’t have her folder. The plaintiff, technically, has forgotten to show up to court.

Just minutes before, I had watched what happens when defendants don’t show up in court: kerchunk! The judge more or less automatically rules for the plaintiffs when the homeowner is a no-show. But when the plaintiff doesn’t show, the judge is suddenly all mercy and forgiveness. Soud simply continues Cooper’s case, telling Kessler to get his shit together and come back for another whack at her in a few weeks. Having done this, he dismisses everyone.

What happens next is stunning. This article is available for free; keep supporting great reporting by subscribing to Rolling Stone here.

Balance the Budget, Donkeys and Elephants!

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The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform recently came out with a plan to reduce some taxes and raise others and cut spending, all to slice the federal budget deficit. But if you don’t like the commission’s plan — perhaps you don’t want to lose your mortgage interest deduction or work until age 69 — The New York Times is letting you come up with a better one using its Budget Puzzle. Yes, now you too can “fix” the budget and see how easy or hard the task should be for federal officials. Who knew the GDP, marginal tax rates, and farm subsidies could be fun?

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