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Ready for winter 2006? And who decides what's in vogue And what's in store?

Invisible Hands & Markets: Just how rotten?

The insurance industry is the latest financial sector to have its darkest secrets exposed to the light
First came investment banking; then mutual funds; now the insurance industry is mired in scandal, the latest target of Eliot Spitzer, New York's formidable attorney-general. On October 14th he filed civil charges against Marsh & McLennan, the world's biggest insurance broker, and announced settlements of criminal charges with two employees at AIG, the world's biggest insurer, and one at ACE, a big property-casualty insurer. The charges are part of an ongoing investigation into industry practices that suggest insurers and brokers have acted collectively (and secretly) to betray customers. An added twist is that the three main companies so far involved are led by members of the Greenberg family: Hank Greenberg is the legendary boss of AIG; his eldest son Jeffrey runs Marsh; and his younger son Evan is in charge at ACE
• A business often thought to lack personality and drama is now suffering from an abundance of both
• · Knowledge @ WhartonHow human behavior drives investment activity; [ Independent political groups have become the main way for the wealthy to affect events ]
• · · Karl Polanyi and the political economy of the 21st century
• · · · {PDF} Daniel Klein (Santa Clara): Statist Quo Bias ; Very few officers found by police to cause automobile accidents ]
• · · · · Michael L. Eskew The Dangers of Economic Isolationism
• · · · · · On the moral case for outsourcing Who Deserves Jobs?