Recommended reading

• Daniel Henninger says that innovation spurred by capitalism saved the trapped Chilean miners. I was literally just talking to a coworker of mine about this, and the amazing technology that made this rescue possible. Not that long ago these guys would have perished.

• Reason magazine publishes some great examples of radical government downsizings. My favorite might be New Zealand's forest privatization initiative (!) which reduced the number of employees in the Forestry Ministry from 17,000 to 17.

• Adam Schaeffer notes a number of high-profile progressive bloggers who appear to be on the verge of being mugged by reality. The collision of left-wing ideas with reality typically mirrors that of a Trabant with a brick wall.

• Greg Mankiw, meanwhile, notes President Obama's own run-in with reality.

• Should we dissolve the Fed?