Snacks for Thought: June 12, 2009

1. When political actors play market: Ian Bremmer looks at the policy coordination failures during the global crisis (this guy wrote an interesting book called 'J-Curve' in which he examined the relationship between a country's openess to global ideas and economics on one hand, and authoritarian politics on the other.)
2. What do Zucchinis and sub-prime collateralized debt instruments have in common? found out here.
   
3. Both Washington and Damascus praise the results of the Lebanese elections: a rare occurrence that may be a signal of concrete rapprochement between the two sides.
4. More consumer spending, increasingly available credit and strong industrial production are testaments to Brazil's sound fiscal and monetary policies during the past seven years. Read about it here.
5. Wine without the headache? Is alcohol without the hangover on the horizon? Either way, this is reason enough for me to now be an official supporter of genetically modified food.