Economist, Nov. 15

(posted Saturday, Nov. 15)

The cover editorial cautions that global deflation is possible if Asian governments don't "reform and revive" their banks. The other potential causes of global deflation--excess supply and lagging demand--are easily remedied by liberal trade policies. For the second week in a row, the Economist calls for military action if Iraq won't comply with U.N. demands: "Mr. Hussein is not a theoretical threat to peace. He is a proven one." The magazine profiles Microsoft's "accidental billionaire," Paul Allen, whose "fortune seems a burden." Allen is too rich to bother investing in tiny, exciting startups, but too quirky to be a major deal-maker.

New Republic, Dec. 1

(posted Friday, Nov. 14)

An editorial calls for unilateral military action by the United States to enforce inspection of Iraq's weapons plants if the United Nations backs down. An article attributes the defeat of fast-track trade authority to a resurgence of nationalism in both parties. Pat Buchanan and Ross Perot stoked nationalist fires in their presidential campaigns--now Congress is obsessed with American "sovereignty." The cover story mourns the death of Oxford philosopher Sir Isaiah Berlin. Berlin's "objective pluralism" combined a hatred of both absolutism and relativism with a nationalist's love for England and Israel.

New York Times Magazine, Nov. 16

(posted Thursday, Nov. 13)

The third "special issue" in two months addresses Hollywood's split personality--the joy-ride blockbuster vs. the soulful indie. An article says the two camps can learn from each other: Indies offer character development and plot, while big-budget movies create "a coveted gloss and Zeitgeist energy that cannot be matched in the world of the shoestring budget." Martin Scorsese converses with Woody Allen about Hollywood. Scorsese explains why some stars won't work with him: "Usually in the pictures I make, the characters are not the most likable people." A profile says that Julianne Moore, star of gigahit The Lost World and indie Boogie Nights, is as bewitching as her characters. Moore reads Joan Didion and owns nothing but a Volvo. An interview with Quentin Tarantino finds him supremely confident: "It ain't about the moment. I'm not making films for right now--I'm making films for 40 years from now."

Time and Newsweek, Nov. 17