Timothy Noah

Patrimonial capitalism—and the landed or urban gentry living off of inherited wealth—was dealt a mortal blow by the Great Depression and World Wars. But it's making a comeback, and the only way to stop it might be a worldwide tax on capital.

In the tight-fisted world of fast food, it's not just the workers who get a lousy deal.

The good news: Economists are starting to come up with some decent theories as to why this recovery is so bad at generating employment. Now here's the bad news.