this is an adventure

In testimony before Congress, Bernanke joins with the Administration to request more authority calling for “an oversight body to monitor big financial institutions that pose systemic risks.” Putting more tools in the hands of regulators to take over faltering financial groups is a solution, yes, but it brings new problems of its own.

“World trade, the engine of growth, is sinking at a pace not seen since the Second World War.” Those who thought we were closer to the beginning of the end, this may just the end of the beginning. News came Wednesday that Japan’s exports dropped a record 49 percent in February. That’s not a typo.

As part of addressing concerns on rising teen pregnancy in the UK, “schoolgirls will be able to request the morning-after pill by text message to their school nurse as part of a scheme being introduced this year.” Don’t worry, child protective staff will step in if the young woman is under the age of thirteen.

The mythic stature of Roger Clemens’ legacy goes back a lot longer than the past few steroid-plagued months, as outlined by veteran baseball writer Jeff Pearlman. He used to be a softie. He split starts with a girl. He’s not, by birth at least, a Texan. But sometimes the truth is better than myth.