Whoa.

An American reporter talks goes underground - sort of - in a Delhi call centre. It makes me miss my masala dosa. An American in Delhi

Stories like this scare the hell out of me. Right now, the world is depending on China - and particularly the Chinese consumer - to drive demand and keep the economy from crawling to a halt. The only problem is that there is little or no transparency in the Chinese economy. The Chinese government - especially local governors - have every incentive to fudge the numbers in order to keep incomes rising and maintain social stability.

The bill just signed into law, is, at best a first step in solving the U.S. health care crisis. Rather than solving the problem of rising health care costs, it seems to commit the U.S. government to having to solve the problem without actually laying out how costs will be cut. Larry Smith does a great job of summing up why this is the case.