The Electric Typewriter

By Michael Lewis

Wall Street on the Tundra
Iceland’s de facto bankruptcy - its currency (the krona) is kaput, its debt is 850 percent of G.D.P., its people are hoarding food and cash and blowing up their new Range Rovers for the insurance - resulted from a stunning collective madness. What led a tiny fishing nation, population 300,000, to decide, around 2003, to re-invent itself as a global financial power?

Beware of Greeks Bearing Bonds
The author heads for riot-stricken Athens, and for the mysterious Vatopaidi monastery, which brought down the last government, to find out how Greece ran up a $1.2 trillion debt (roughly a quarter-million dollars for each working adult).

When Irish Eyes Are Crying
In 2000, suddenly among the richest people in Europe, the Irish decided to buy their country—from one another. After which their banks and government really screwed them. So where’s the rage?