By which I mean, here’s some good new reads from think tanks on current political topics. If used as directed, they should alleviate your discomfort, at least a little:

• For any conservatives feeling tempted by sweeping proposals to create a new energy future for America, Richard Gordon’s new paper for the Cato Institute will serve as at least the first three of a 12-step program of recovery. He addresses peak oil, “energy independence,” and a number of other shibboleths. Just as with the bailout mania, conservatives will be well-advised not to forget their history here — which teaches that no matter what the intention, a policy’s execution will be determined by bureaucrats and special interests with their own goals in mind.

• I’m currently reading two new books from AEI scholars that help clarify the longstanding debate about economic progress and the government’s role. Nicholas Eberstadt’s The Poverty of “The Poverty Rate” is an excellent primer on the origins and fundamental flaws of this crucial federal statistic. And Prices, Poverty, and Inequality, from Christian Broda and David Weinstein, takes the discussion one step further by using better measures to show huge increases in real incomes and reductions in real poverty over the past three decades. None of which is to say that there isn’t great political danger embedded in the public’s perception of economic stagnation, and the extent to which increases in non-wage compensation such as health benefits don’t feel like economic progress. But conservative policies for addressing such concerns should be based on real data, not statistical noise and flawed conclusions.

• If policymakers really want to attract enough effective teachers to make a dent in the nation’s wall of educational mediocrity, they don’t need permission from the incoming Obama administration. They just need to follow the example of states that have shown they are truly willing to hire the best and brightest, regardless of ed-school hoop-jumping. The Hoover Institution’s EducationNext journal just published a new study on the subject, which also shows that true alternative certification also improves diversity.