An atom of a peace bomb

An atom of a peace bomb. A tiny first step for the Indians and Pakistanis, if there is a deal next month. A giant step for many others who desire peaceful coexistence between families.

Pakistan and India in historic tradepush - FT.com

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India and Pakistan are preparing for the biggest liberalisation in bilateral trade since partition more than six decades ago, reviving commercial ties that have been strangled ever since the end of British rule in 1947. Senior officials on both

The Atlantic: The End of Men

Now fathers can be mothers too.

The End of Men

www.theatlantic.com

Earlier this year, women became the majority of the workforce for the first time in U.S. history. Most managers are now women too. And for every two men who get a college degree this year, three women will do the same. For years, women’s progress has been cast as a struggle for equality. But w...

The Atlantic: All the Single Ladies

"..men have been rapidly declining—in income, in educational attainment, and in future employment prospects—relative to women."

Relief!!

All the Single Ladies

www.theatlantic.com

Recent years have seen an explosion of male joblessness and a steep decline in men’s life prospects that have disrupted the “romantic market” in ways that narrow a marriage-minded woman’s options: increasingly, her choice is between deadbeats (whose numbers are rising) and playboys (whose power is g.

The Atlantic: Irregular neighborhoods in Karachi

Katchi abadis. Just read Mike Davis' Planet of Slums. Shape and smell of things to come - blood.

In Karachi, Irregular Neighborhoods Are Anything But - Housing - The Atlantic Cities

www.theatlanticcities.com

An estimated half of the population of Pakistan's largest city lives in unauthorized homes

WaPo: Pakistan leans toward talks with Taliban, not battle

Demonizing supposed fundamentalists doesn't go anywhere. Because fighting "them" ends up in fighting "within". Just like global warming! :-)

Pakistan leans toward talks with Taliban, not battle

www.washingtonpost.com

As American discontent rises, Pakistan shows less willingness to fight.

West must keep Pakistan ties, says Nato chief

A marriage made in hell more difficult to break than one made in heaven.

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West must keep Pakistan ties, says Nato chief - FT.com

www.ft.com

The west must continue to co-operate closely with Pakistan despite US claims that Pakistan’s intelligence agency is assisting Islamist insurgents fighting allied troops in Afghanistan, Nato’s secretary-general has said. Anders Fogh Ramussen declined

WaPo: How the economy looked at the end of 2008

A remarkable read from 8 Oct 11 WaPo, describing Christina Romer's briefing to Barack Obama mid-December 2008.

"The Bureau of Economic Analysis, the agency charged with measuring the size and growth of the U.S. economy, initially projected that the economy shrank at an annual rate of 3.8 percent in the last quarter of 2008. Months later, the bureau almost doubled that estimate, saying the number was 6.2 percent. Then it was revised to 6.3 percent. But it wasn’t until this year that the actual number was revealed: 8.9 percent. That makes it one of the worst quarters in American history. Bernstein and Romer knew in 2008 that the economy had sustained a tough blow; t hey didn’t know that it had been run over by a truck."

"In our crisis, the “debt” in question is housing debt. Home prices have fallen almost 33 percent since the beginning of the crisis. All together, the nation’s housing stock is worth $8 trillion less than it was in 2006. And we’re not done. Morgan Stanley estimates there are more than 2.2 million homes sitting vacant, and 7.5 million more facing foreclosure. It is housing debt that has weakened the banks, and mortgage debt that is keeping consumers from spending."

Could this time have been different?

www.washingtonpost.com

A deep look at the economic policies we did and didn’t choose.