Recommended reading

• China: why high-speed rail in the country could actually lead to more traffic and an interesting theory behind why the industrial revolution passed it by even as it took off in Europe.

• The GAO says that the Security and Exchange Commission's books are a mess. This isn't the first time the GAO has criticized the SEC. 

• Economist Ed Glaeser argues that Americans should love their cities more. I'd caution that those who equate cities/pro-urban sentiment with leftists/statism should recognize that suburban sprawl is in many ways a creation of government policy through items such as subsidies for highways, a mortgage interest deduction that encourages the construction of bigger houses and zoning laws that make city living artificially expensive. 

• Dennis Cauchon explains why, despite the stuttering economy, our standard of living is higher than ever. 

• Health care: Another sign of TennCare distress, an Obama administration breezily states that the solution to Medicaid problems is simply doing more with less and Charles Lane delivers a written slap to Ezra Klein over Judge Vinson's recent decision.