Extra Credit, Tuesday Edition

US newspapers disregard their consumers

At Bonus time, No One Can Hear You Scream: "Today's bulge-bracket fixed income trading floors are strewn with human wreckage which will be reincarnated as tomorrow's 'Unicredito Global Head of Globalness' types."

Can Foundations Take the Long View Again? A backlash against those philanthropists who obsess over return on capital.

Flight to gold as investors lose faith in money: "What happens if a slump chills oil? We will then learn whether gold is a commodity, or once again a currency."

Google’s Lunchtime Betting Game: On the importance of who you sit next to at work. The cited paper is here.

The Pigou Club watches the debates: As did I. And I'm only slightly ashamed to admit that I physically applauded when I heard Barack Obama utter the words "hundred percent auction".

Sallie Mae’s Lord loses a job: "Sallie goes on to note that it 'has a 35-year history of separating the Board chair and chief executive roles, with the exception of the recent three-week period during which Mr. Lord held both positions.' It just so happens those were the worst three weeks in the company’s history."

Mike Huckabee wants to abolish the IRS: Brad DeLong thinks he's being less dishonest than the other leading Republican presidential candidates.

Link Lovin' fer the New Year: Steve Waldman on the best econoblogs. He says I should be snarkier.

This Land: Visual Pollution: Why I live in Manhattan.

Hiding in Plain Sight: Why Cycling Is The World's Most Popular Underground Activity: "Sure, there are places where cycling is part of the mainstream culture, like Belgium, the Netherlands, and Portland, Oregon, but none of those places are in the United States."