Not only does telecoms traffic grow roughly twice as fast in competitive markets as in monopoly markets, but the benefits flow to all corners of the economy in the form of new technology, innovative services, lower distribution costs and much lower average tariffs.

ECONOMIST: In the shark pond

Nevertheless, the most interesting aspect of Ireland's blogging experiment is that as the country's Weimaresque party atmosphere sagged under brutally high unemployment and huge cuts in government spending, new media provided a truly new way to tackle the crisis, in the form of the blog Irish Economy.

FORBES: Medialand

Finally, the world's economy should get a stimulus in the form of a green New Deal.

ECONOMIST: The World Social Forum

Last year, the economy created 400, 000 new jobs, four-fifths of them in the form of temporary contracts.

ECONOMIST: The euro economies