Liberal economist Paul Krugman is fielding questions in a live chat on the New Yorker website, in connection with a profile of him in the current issue. On the subject of the inherent inefficiency of government: [G]overnment isn't nearly as bad -- or the private sector nearly as good -- as it's often portrayed. I know I lot of very good, very hard-working government employees; and while I don't work for a large corporation, I do read Dilbert. ...

New Yorker writer (and Port Medway summer resident) Calvin Trillin, who claims to hold the record for consecutive columns by an American about Canada (at two), deconstructs poutine in the magazine's Food Issue, out today. The piece itself is available on line only to subscribers, but here is a New Yorker podcast about it: Hat tip: Sarah Cooper-Ellis...