In the Water, In the Air: Monday, December 16, 2013.

FISCAL FOLLIES -- DECEMBER 2013 CONTINUING RESOLUTION

In budget deal, a secret reward for Dems (Erik Wasson, The Hill, 12/15).

Budget deal shows the GOP has PTSD (Marc A. Thiessen, The Washington Post / WP Opinions, 12/16).

Budget Deal Faces Uncertain Senate Vote Tuesday (Caitlin Huey-Burns, RealClearPolitics, 12/16).

The Budget Deal Stabilizes Nothing (Gene Epstein, Barron's / Economic Beat, 12/14).

Boehner’s budget good step for GOP future (Linda Chaves, New York Post, 12/13).

Budget deal is just a start (Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, Los Angeles Times / Opinion, 12/13).

DEFICITS AND DEBT

Sequester May Have "Governed By Crisis" But It Worked (Editorial, Investors.com, 12/13).

For Paul Ryan And The Republicans, Tomorrow Is The Day That Never Comes (John Tamny, Forbes, 12/15).

FACTION

Nostalgia for the ‘Do-Nothing’ Congress (Albert R. Hunt, Bloomberg / Opinion, 12/15).

ECONOMIC REPORTS

Happy days are here again, and we can thank Obama (Tom Keane, The Boston Globe / Opinion, 12/15).

Do you trust the November jobs report? (Wayne Allyn Root, MarketWatch, 12/16).

ECONOMICS 101

What the Rest Really Should Learn From the West (Pankaj Mishra, Bloomberg / Opinion, 12/15).

THE NATURE OF POLITICS

The Question at the Heart of the Democratic Schism Should the burden of proof be on reformers—or on vested interests? (Noam Scheiber, New Republic, 12/15).

Why Banking Systems Succeed -- And Fail: The Politics Behind Financial Institutions (Charles W. Calomiris and Stephen H. Haber, Foreign Affairs, Nov/Dec 2013).

REVENUE-SIDE REFORM

Tax reformers see hope in budget deal (Bernie Becker, The Hill, 12/15).

MIXED-SIDE AND REGULATORY REFORM

The Volcker Rule: Wins, Losses and Toss-ups (Alexis Goldstein, The Nation, 12/13).

MOBILITY AND EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY

Why Inequality Matters (Paul Krugman, The New York Times / Opinion Pages, 12/15).

A Dozen Facts about America's Struggling Lower-Middle Class (The Hamilton Project, December 2013).

Ezra Klein Misses the Mark: Inequality and Unemployment Are the Same Problem (Center for Economic and Policy Research, 12/14).

We Are Not All in This Together (Shamus Khan, The New York Times / The Opinion Pages, 12/14).

GOVERNMENT FINANCE AND FINANCIAL POLICY

Lawrence Summers: Stagflation is not our fate — unless we let it be (Lawrence Summers, The Washington Post / WP Opinions, 12/15).

Has the Fed Been Fueling Bubbles? You Be the Judge (Josh Boak, RealClear, 12/16).

PUBLIC PENSIONS

Deadbeat Governments (James Surowiecki, The New Yorker / The Financial Page, 12/23).

GLOBAL ECONOMY -- JAPAN

Yen to decline by ‘whatever it takes’ to awaken Japan (David Marsh, MarketWatch, 12/16).

GLOBAL ECONOMY -- GERMANY

Germany’s Coming Downgrade (Sylvester Eijffinger and Edin Mujagic, Project Syndicate, 12/16).

GLOBAL ECONOMY -- MEXICO

North America to Drown in Oil as Mexico Ends Monopoly (Joe Carroll and Bradley Olson, Bloomberg / Sustainability, 12/16).

GLOBAL ECONOMY -- THAILAND

Them Ol'middle class Bangkokian blues (Voranai Vanijaka, Bangkok Post / Opinion, 12/15).