Assorted links

1. Scott Sumner speaks up for China, and Scott on movies.

2. On Finnish “preschool by any other name,” my previous post was wrong on this topic.

3. Paul Romer is on Twitter; so far he seems to be taking it seriously.

4. FDI performance for France, better than you might think but can it last?

5. How easily can the Fed back out of its portfolio?  Sober Look and Arnold Kling.

6. Jobs where the gender wage gap is largest and smallest.  And do the costs of minimum wage hikes fall mainly on outsiders?

7. How the Italian Senate works (doesn’t work), further explanation here, and why there was no real alternative to Monti’s Italian austerity.