The New Republic

In his column in today's New York Times, David Brooks argues that most Americans don't want to live in cities, despite his assertion that "some writers" now believe otherwise. Relying on a new report from the Pew Research Center about favorite places to live in America, he reduces cities, in typical Brooks fashion, to unified totalities of stereotypical aspirations:  READ MORE >>

It's become fashionable in the international economics world to raise doubts about the future of the Eurozone, and even the EU itself; for what it's worth (not much), I tend to agree with the bears. READ MORE >>

As if it weren't already apparent, Eric Cantor--or someone on his staff--has a thing for ginning up cheesy web videos. But while I too am astounded by the AFSCME and Aerosmith bits, for its combination of wonkery, inexplicable plot, and bad acting, nothing beats this 2007 gem, made when Cantor was leading the defense against higher taxes on private equity firms. --Clay Risen READ MORE >>

Opinions on Timothy Geithner vary, but no matter how much you dislike him, at least give him this: He's never shown up visibly drunk to a press conference. Unlike a certain Japanese finance minister: On Monday, however, Shoichi Nakagawa, Japan's finance minister and a veteran heavyweight in the long-ruling Liberal Democratic party was forced to deny allegations he had turned up drunk for a press conference at a weekend gathering of Group of Seven counterparts in Rome. READ MORE >>

Noah Feldman is a fertile and careful writer, but his latest piece for the New York Times Magazine is too clever by half. "In Defense of Secrecy" rests on the driest of strawmen: After setting up a dichotomy between the secrecy fetish of the Bush Administration and Obama's tack toward transparency, he writes, "The effective operation of even the most democratic government requires secrecy and surprise as well as transparency and predictability." READ MORE >>

From one Financial Times story this morning: Eurozone growth contracted at its fastest ever rate at the end of last year, with an unexpectedly-bad German performance deepening the recession more than had been feared. ... economists expect the eurozone economy to contract by as much as 2 per cent this year--making the recession one of the worst in continental Europe since the second world war. READ MORE >>

The Post series on Gary Williams is great, no question, Jason. But for those who don't have time to read a three-part series, all the problems with Williams are summed up in this photo. While watching the other Coach Williams fillet Duke last night, a bunch of otherwise-morose ex-Terps and I agreed that in this case, a picture truly does paint a thousand words. --Clay Risen READ MORE >>

As we all conduct the post-mortem on the administration's fumbled bank-rescue rollout, it's important to keep in mind what's so glaringly missing from the plan--or, rather, only given a placeholder: a plank addressing the mortgage crisis that sits at the center of the downturn. The plan includes merely a number--$50 billion--to be set aside for an as-yet-undisclosed program, an amount on the low end of what people inside and out of the government said was needed to fully address the problem.  READ MORE >>

Just back from a week of lectures around Bavaria--h/t to the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung for inviting me--and, at least among the people I talked to, die Obamania remains stratospherically high. Too high, actually. I won’t pretend to speak for all Germans, or even most Bavarians, though in all I addressed about 1,500 people, from high school students to academics, politicians, and Bundeswehr officers. READ MORE >>

It's received little discussion so far, but part of the stimulus plan would reduce taxes on corporate overseas earnings "repatriated" to the United States, from 35 percent to 5.25 percent. Supporters, including Senators Barbara Boxer and John Ensign, say such a dramatic reduction could bring tens of billions back home, boosting jobs and expanding tax coffers. READ MORE >>