August 31, 2009 edition of the New Yorker – “The Rubber Room – The battle over New York City’s worst teachers” by Steven Brill. Makes a pretty strong argument against teacher’s unions, or at least their current behavior.
Also the May edition of The Atlantic, which I just got to, has by far the simplest graphic of spending by the Federal Reserve during the economic crisis that I’ve seen. It demonstrates quite clearly, btw, that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is peanuts compared to other lending, bailouts, and asset purchases. This ‘map’ on pages 58 and 59, is a must.