Economics is a field in which the general public will often give deference to the opinions of someone with professional credentials, even when that person seems to be saying something in direct opposition to common sense. "Well, sounds crazy, but he's the expert," we say to ourselves. We assume that the expert knows something we don't. Sometimes, he does. Other times, the expert is just a very wrong person with a very impressive job title.

We live in a world in which wealth is distributed in a wildly unequal way. A tiny few have billions of dollars, while many more have nothing. Though the reactions to this persistent and growing state of inequality span the ideological spectrum, it's fair to say that most people consider it a problem. For the very wealthy—and their sympathizers—extensive philanthropy is often held up as their personal nod to the world's unfairness. These generous philanthropists are considered to be the good ones.

After British reports of upcoming bacon shortages last month led people whose whole identity is defined by the fact that they enjoy bacon and even sometimes consume it in unexpected ways -like chopped into tiny pieces and inserted into a chocolate bar- to begin selling off choice plots in the family cemetery lot in exchange for packages of frozen hog hash, American agricultural economists have stepped forward to soothe us all.

Allow us, please, if you will, to direct your attention to this paper on the topic of Can You Believe How Much Motherfucking Money These CEOs Make, And, Even Worse, How They Try to Justify That Shit As If It's All Good. As noted in Gretchen Morgenson's column yesterday, CEOs and the cronies that justify their salaries are, in most cases, full of shit.

Neil Barofsky was at the very center of the U.S. government's response to the 2008 economic collapse. He spent more than two years, until March of 2011, as Special Inspector General for the TARP program, overseeing and monitoring government bailout funds. Now, Barofsky has written a ferocious book detailing how, he says, "Washington abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street." And he's here to take questions from you, the Main Streeters.

High-quality counterfeits of American $100 and $50 are keeping North Korea's economy afloat, The End of Money author David Wolman reports in Time. Estimates on Pyongyang's black market counterfeiting profits range from $15 to $25 million "to several hundred million dollars' worth" every year.

Arthur Laffer, the right-wing economist who is second only to Reagan in right-wing masturbation fantasies for allegedly proving that lowering taxes increases revenue (it doesn't), has been sued for his alleged involvement in a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors of at least $3.1 million.

Don't listen when they tell you Congress can't get anything done: It has finally lifted the five-year ban on slaughtering horses for human consumption in the U.S., creating literally dozens of jobs for people who want to slaughter horses and unshackling the horsemeat-for-human-consumption industry from the heel of government oppression that has kept it down for so long. Let freedom reign.

Europe will apparently not fall apart after German chancellor Angela Merkel shepherded a deal early Thursday morning to write down Greek's debt. It's complicated, but basically she got a bunch of banks to take a 50% haircut on what Greece owes them. Click on the image on the right to see how one of the negotiators diagrammed it in the middle of the night.

We gave you our highly unscientific quiz for figuring out what percent you are. But the eggheaded calculator jockeys at the Wall Street Journal did it for real. Just go here enter in your household income.

Remember Bitcoins, the digital cash useful for buying drugs on a underground website and not much else? Even with a recent New Yorker feature, a Bitcoin is now worth just $2.80—down from a 2011 peak of $33. [via]

For the first time in two years, Americans' income fell last month. The drop was a meager .1%, but it was accompanied by a .2% increase in spending, which means your costs went up by twice the amount your pay was cut. But don't worry, because analysts estimate that corporate earnings of the S&P 500 companies will increase by 13% this quarter, so maybe you can borrow some from them? Just blue-skying here.

The last time the economy collapsed, CNBC money-clown Jim Cramer basically said, "Don't panic! Buy Bear Stearns! What could go wrong?" That advice didn't work out so well for him. So this time, he's modulating.

A Finnish economist took one of those ridiculous worldwide penis studies that are always circulating and charted it against GDPs, to study that critical ratio between penis size and wealth. It's the classic golddigger's dilemma—are any of the rich ones worth fucking?—but on a global scale!

Women: why don't they go out and get a job? In a time when our nation's rents are rising, it might be kind of nice—I'm just saying—it might be kind of nice if someone in this apartment with a vagina started bringing in some income. I'm just saying.

Bank of America feels just awful about it's role in packaging and selling a bunch of junk mortgages and inflating the economy with bad debt until the bottom fell out and more than 5 million people lost their jobs and more than 2.5 million went on food stamps, except for BofA's executives, who still got paid. So it's decided to pay $14 billion to BlackRock, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and a bunch of other extremely wealthy institutions to make up for it. Are we square?

Fameball economist, world-class doomsayer, and long-time Gawker favorite Nouriel Roubini had a 14-hour party on Saturday, beginning with a "noon...dip in the model-packed Jacuzzi" atop his Manhattan triplex and ending when the...caffeine ran out, we're guessing. They probably partied until there was no more caffeine left to keep them going at Nouriel Roubini's 14-hour "Carmens and Matadors"-themed party at his $5.5 million apartment.

White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee will return to his teaching position at the University of Chicago this fall, partly in order to avoid losing tenure. He'll likely be replaced with another boring academic. Our choice: A hand puppet. [Politico]

Above is a chart of the exchange rate, in dollars, of the digital currency Bitcoin. That red arrow shows the price on Wednesday afternoon right after we published a story about Silk Road, a Bitcoin-powered online marketplace where you can easily buy illegal drugs. In the past 48 hours alone, a Bitcoin's worth has jumped from around $9.90 to around $14.

When Armageddon comes and the Antichrist reveals himself — most likely as a cigarette-smoking, cocaine-sniffing, secret Muslim world leader — the only things of value in our Mad Max-like world will be guns, silver and gold.