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Daniel Gross at Slate.com highlights the Citibank Geo-Political Risk Calculator that attempts to quantify the state of global geo-political risk. An earlier take on the role of political risk and investor sentiment.

The Economist looks at a study that tries to measure the effect of counterterrorism efforts on the Israeli stock market.

James Picerno at the Capital Spectator wonders what next for core CPI?

macroblog finds little comfort in the most recent economic data.

John M. Berry at Bloomberg.com thinks Bernanke is being careful in light of expectations of slowing growth.

Eddy Elfenbein at Seeking Alpha can’t believe what he is hearing from one prominent economist.

Steve Stecklow in the Wall Street Journal looks at how the options culture ruled one technology firm.

Jay Walker at the Confused Capitalist believes most investors should re-think their emerging market exposure.

David Wessel in the Wall Street Journal wonders what role hedge funds will play in the next big financial crisis.

DealBook highlights some statistics on the surge in mergers and acquisitions activity for asset management firms.

A lack of cheap financing could be a crimp in the case for megacaps. (via DealBook)

Clay Risen in the Christian Science Monitor wonders “why D.C. loves Goldman Sachs.” We earlier noted Goldman’s role as a farm team for the federal government.

This is kind of a “cool” story. (via Gizmodo)

Austan Goolsbee in the New York Times looks at some sobering research that shows ethnic divisions have a great deal to say how a country rebuilds.

What do you think of this (UK-centric) list of the top 50 albums that changed the course of music? (via The Morning News)

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