TODAY'S recommended economics writing:

• Kyoto seems to have reduced domestic emissions (in signatory nations) a little and increased the carbon content of imports a lot. (Vox)

• If there's anything we can learn from the experience of the American automakers it's that once a reputation for quality is lost, it takes a long time to get it back. Toyota, take note. (Cheap Talk)

• A resounding rebuke to those trying to rehabilitate President Bush's economic policies. (Jon Chait)

• Anti-theft lunch bags. Yuck. (Marginal Revolution)

• The least surprising headline of all time: China rejects US currency complaints. Do people have no sense of how this stuff works? (New York Times)

• If you don't hear from me for a few days, send snowplows.