WIth all the company’s riches, why is a Goldman Sachs (GS) subsidiary getting a $3 million earmark from Washington?

In Crude World: The Violent Twilight of Oil (Knopf, $27) author and journalist Peter Maass embarks on an eight-year investigation into the economics and politics of oil production, surveying the true costs of oil beyond carbon emissions and high prices at the pump. Maass, a contributing writer for New York Times Magazine , travels to countries where oil has been discovered to get a first-hand understanding of the consequences — war, poverty, corruption and dictatorship.

Grove O’Rourke here. I’ve been on book tour since September 1 with Norb Vonnegut, the author of Top Producer and the guy who created me. Last Tuesday, the Financial Times printed the following commentary from Oswald Grubel, the CEO of UBS.

“World’s major powers including China and Russia don’t want to ‘finance’ American military adventures anymore.” That’s the view of Max Keiser, finance critic and former stockbroker. He says China and Russia are interested in collapsing the US economy by rejecting the dollar. Update: In response to this video this blog was written at Jesse’s Cafe Americain

Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) — Wells Fargo & Co. plans to raise interest rates on a majority of credit-card customers by 3 percentage points before new rules limiting such increases take effect, according to a company executive

In her recent piece celebrating National Work & Family month, Donna Klein of Corporate Voices notes that “progressive personnel policies and a work culture supportive of occasional flexibility” offers companies “enhanced recruitment, retention, engagement, cost control, productivity and financial performance.” Here’s another reason to support an effective and flexible work culture for all employees: It could actually help your employees stay healthy. Employers understand that investing in employee wellness is smart business, but as Cali Yost says , most think “wellness program” equals an employer-subsidized gym membership. A recent SHRM survey shows that even though 60% of responding HR professionals report that the recession has had an impact on their employers’ benefits offerings, many employers plan to increase benefits in health and wellness

Reps. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) have asked Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) to postpone the confirmation of Ben Bernanke for a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve.