Money Troubles

It was a good week for bad economic news. But which measures matter most to New Yorkers?

Dynasties in Distress

After going at it for more than a month like two ale-soaked barflies, the Belgian brewing powerhouse InBev (Bass, Stella Artois, Beck’s) and Anheuser-Busch finally agreed today on terms of a merger. For the Busch clan, the deal marks the end of the family’s nearly 140 year control of the fabled brewer. Duff McDonald takes a look at a handful of other wealthy American families that lately have been in the news.

Liz Smith takes note of my Diller cover story in Portfolio.

A very nice mention of my Diller piece from John Carney of DealBreaker.com.

The Confessions of Barry Diller.

The media mogul almost lost it all in an epic battle with partner John Malone. Now he talks about what went wrong —and how he plans to reinvent himself one more time.

Jason Kottke gives a nod to the Dylan piece in Vanity Fair.

Matthew Pressman of Vanity Fair cites The Britney Economy in a piece about her cultural significance.

The Escort Economy

A back-of-the-pillowcase analysis of just how big the high-end call-girl business really is.

My Vanity Fair piece on Bob Dylan’s brain. Such as it is.

Here I am with Dan Gross of Newsweek in our second BloggingHeads.TV appearance.

Financial Instrument ABCs