Today’s Readings 1/7/2013

1. A fair assessment of the worst of the IMF for the layman. Some of the details on Malawi, particularly on its food subsidy programs, are a little too general, but a good read. This article was also written back in June. A lot has happened since then.(The Independent)

2. Atheism isn’t all negativity. We do think positively about most things, just without fictional beings. (Times Sunday Review)

3. The NRA’s vision of America is central America. ““A society that is relying on guys with guns to stop violence is a sign of a society where institutions have broken down,” said Rebecca Peters, former director of the International Action Network on Small Arms. “It’s shocking to hear anyone in the United States considering a solution that would make it seem more like Colombia.”” (NYT)

4. Sanctions have led Iranians to brew their own gasoline, and reach deadly levels of air pollution (NYT)

5. Why can’t China and Japan just get along? (NYT)

6. Despite slow global growth, the Americans are coming back strong. you wouldn’t know it listening to our politicians, though (nor from our underemployed underclass). Pacific Investment Management Co.’s new normal, the prediction that global economic growth and investment returns would tumble, is proving half right. Bloomberg

7. Want to fight crime? Address inequality. Militarization won’t solve anything. (Bloomberg)

8. How the world’s third largest economy, Japan, and one of the safest places on earth deals with guns. (Japan Times)