Topic: Jared Diamond

Good Reads: Why nations fail, and how we overlook some successes

This week's reading list includes a close look at why nations fail, how Africa is booming, why Greece's default won't be such a tragedy after all, and how Facebook's IPO is a warning bell. 

9 books Bill Gates thinks you should read

Nonprofit group TED asks some of the world's most fascinating thinkers to share both ideas and reading lists. Here's a list of the nine books recommended by Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates.

A modest proposal for the tea party: Endorse the 'head tax'

If every American pays exactly the same amount, $8,666 – known as the 'head tax,' as it is charged per head – the budget will balance and there will be no marginal tax rate. Sound good, tea partyers?

Could China's voracious demand for natural resources 'green' the world's economy?

China's need for natural resources could create incentives for green revolution.

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Top 10 checklist: How societies can avoid 'ecocide'

Community-based fishery management and Somali pirates

'Pristine' environments and sustainability

Readers' picks

Readers write and tell us what they are reading.

Climate change’s most deadly threat: drought

Anthropologist Brian Fagan uses Earth’s distant past to predict the crises that may lie in its future.

Climate change's most deadly threat: drought

Anthropologist Brian Fagan uses Earth's distant past to predict the crises that may lie in its future.

Climate change's most deadly threat: drought

Anthropologist Brian Fagan uses Earth's distant past to predict the crises that may lie in its future.