From the Business Pages: October 21, 2008

21.10.2008

An OECD report out this morning shows that the United States isn't the only country experiencing a widened rich-poor gap--on average, inequality is increasing across the developed world. The bad news (wait, that wasn't the bad news?) is that the United States is fourth in overall inequality--behind Mexico, Turkey, and Portugal--and it has the third-worst poverty rates.

Paul Wolfowitz, step aside and let Dominique Strauss-Kahn show you how international-finance scandals are done: Immediately after apologizing for having an affair with a subordinate, Strauss-Kahn, head of the IMF, is being investigated for pushing a family friend into a coveted internship at the Fund, even as jobs in her department were being slashed.

Don't miss this goodie in the Wall Street Journal from Paul Rubin, Emory econ prof and unpaid adviser to McCain. Apparently, the biggest risk we face today is that a President Obama "will likely radically increase government interference in the economy" to an extent unseen since FDR. Set aside the fact that a sitting president from his own party has just done exactly that. Set aside the fact that McCain supported him in doing so. What's amazing about Rubin's essay--which is, in a direct way, an expression of the McCain team's thinking--is that he believes Americans are still more afraid of federal acronyms than the problems those agencies handle. Call me naïve, but right now I think most voters are erring on the side of more financial regulation.

Earnings reports for a whole slew of companies are out today, from a chunk of regional banks to Apple and Caterpillar. Forbes dissects what they mean. Better-than-expected results, particularly in banking, combined with a continued thaw in credit markets, could mean increased economic momentum for the rest of the week.

Finally, Robert Teitelman has a biting takedown of SEC Chair Chris Cox at The Deal.

--Clay Risen