MEDIA REVIEWS - May 1-7, 2010

It looks like the grantor-retained annuity trust (GRAT) did its job too well in the perfect environment of late 2008; this issue of Financial Advisor says that a new bill in Congress would change the rules perhaps dramatically enough to render the usual estate-tax-saving strategy almost obsolete, not that we have to worry about estate taxes at this very moment...

In The Economist, we get an analysis of the volcano in Iceland and a warning that a much, MUCH bigger one could be in store before long--which is something to remember if you plan to travel to Europe. It also offers two articles which seem like a pair, one on upward mobility in the U.S., the other on a similar issue in China. And The Economist offers a look at the Greek political situation amid the rescue.