From New York, a special issue on Money 2009: What’s it worth?; and an article on Michael Moore, Bible Thumper: In his attempt to save America from capitalism, the filmmaker has a very powerful ally. America's Teacher: Naomi Klein interviews Michael Moore on "Capitalism: A Love Story" (and more). Rational irrationality: John Cassidy on the real reason that capitalism is so crash-prone. A review of This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly by Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff. From The New Yorker, a special issue on money, including Ryan Lizza on Larry Summers and the White House economic team; the history of management consulting: A review of The Management Myth: Why the "Experts" Keep Getting it Wrong by Matthew Stewart; and will consumer spending really stay down? James Surowiecki investigates. Hurry up and wait: Liberal economists think we should reduce the deficit — just not yet. So, did Obama's rescue package end up working after all? The free-marketeers who rallied against the stimulus look back and realize they had almost no idea what they were actually talking about. From Vanity Fair, good billions after bad: Donald Barlett and James Steele on how much of TARP funds ended up in the wrong hands, doing the opposite of what was needed. Heidi Moore on how the biggest government bailout is yet to come — itself. Stop denigrating government — there is no economy without it. The economic shakeup has made government employment suddenly more appealing to younger workers, but is this bad for our private sector?

From Surveillance & Society, a special issue on Gender, Sexuality and Surveillance. Is federal stimulus money being doled out to convicted sex offenders? Yes, at least if you happen to be a felon registered in Miami-Dade. Mark Caldwell reviews Licentious Gotham: Erotic Publishing and Its Prosecution in Nineteenth-Century New York by Donna Dennis (and more and more). From The Economist, a look at America's unjust sex laws: An ever harsher approach is doing more harm than good, but it is being copied around the world; and America has pioneered the harsh punishment of sex offenders — does it work? How do we pass rational sex-offender laws with psychos like Phillip Garrido on the loose? From The Nation, a look at the crusade against sex trafficking: Do brothel raids help trafficking victims escape abuse, or skirt the reality that makes recovery so difficult for the "rescued?" There's now a proposal for a global sex-offender registry. The Polanski case revives debate about the age of consent — and how America stacks up against other countries when it comes to sexual permissiveness. UNESCO finds itself under fire from American conservatives for proposing a new set of guidelines on sex education in schools as a means of helping young people avoid potentially dangerous sexual activity. From Double X, hookup hysteria: Annie Lowrey on how the right gets 20-something relationships all wrong. Girls gone wild vs. virgins till marriage: Why is sexual life in America so schizoid?

From Magazine Rack, when it comes to gravitas that separates a magazine from the pack, Harper's offers plenty. An interview with Jared Kushner, the fast-rising young owner of the New York Observer. From Folio, an interview with Scott Flanders, incoming Playboy CEO: "I believe the magazine will come back". A look at how Men's Health magazine muscled its way to the top. Lady mags hit hard times: Blame their prettier-than-thou bullying and rise of the fashion blog, not the recession. The death of the working woman: Do women's magazines over-value cover subjects who do literally no work? The Bitch (magazine) is back: Readers step up to save their favorite independent magazines. What is the purpose of a music magazine in light of the dramatic shifts of the past decade? The online journal Democratiya is incorporated into Dissent. Is Ebony up for sale? The advertising slump hammers the nation's oldest African-American magazine. As the economy and the housing market falter, can decor magazines remain standing? Conde Nast announces the closing of Gourmet, a magazine of almost biblical status in the food world. From Magazine Death Pool, here's the Fall 2009 preview of magazine deaths to come. Now read this: Magazines aren't dead, at least not all of them — a look at publishing's page turners. While Apple’s Tablet could be print industry’s lifeboat, Time Inc. leads an industry-wide joint venture to create a digital store for magazines as a way for publishers to avoid surrendering their digital future. Surprisingly, recycling isn't always the best option for printing a magazine responsibly.

From Taki's Magazine, Paul Gottfried reviews John Derbyshire' We Are Doomed: Reclaiming Conservative Pessimism and Sam Tanenhaus’s The Death of Conservatism (and more and more and more and more); and Nesta Bevan on Revilo P. Oliver, the forgotten conservative. Peter Berkowitz reviews The Age of Reagan: The Conservative Counterrevolution 1980–1989 by Steven F. Hayward (and more). Brain-dead conservatism: The populists dominate, while the intellectuals are in retreat. The Lightweight: Meghan McCain stretches the bounds of the GOP's "big tent". Can the George W. Bush Policy Institute be a bipartisan, non-ideological engine for change? Let's make it all Obama's fault: Republicans know whom to blame for the problems in the world — no matter when they started. Resurgence of the gun nuts: Not even Maryland is immune as the Second Amendment hawks get scared. Bullet-makers are working around the clock, seven days a week, and still can’t keep up with the nation’s demand for ammunition. From Scientific American, an article on implicit social cognition and the "Birther" movement. Something new on the Mall: We have never seen, at least in the modern history of the United States, a right-wing street-protest movement. What if satire doesn't even measure up to reality?: That was the situation Time's TV critic James Poniewozik faced when he set out to anticipate the crazy-right's reaction to an upcoming appearance on "Sesame Street" by Michelle Obama. Jonah Goldberg on how politics destroyed a great TV show: The cautionary tale of "Battlestar Galactica".