Some of the most interesting business articles seem to come across my screen during the weekend. Here are a few to start off your workweek. I'm pointing you to articles about Maytag, the crisis in lending, agflation, the inclusive leader, and making the most of social networks.

Last week's newsletter was "Fruit on the Bottom Yogurt and Innovation." As usual there were pointers to Web and Reading Resources, too.

From the New York Times: Is There (Middle Class) Life after Maytag?
"Newton’s last day as a manufacturing mecca comes a century after Fred L. Maytag built his first mechanical washing machine here. Over time he also located his headquarters, research center and most production in Newton, changing it from a rural county seat into a prosperous city of 16,000. Absent Maytag’s high pay, overall hourly earnings last year for other workers in the county would have been $3 an hour less, according to Iowa Workforce Development, a state agency."

From Business Week: Not So Smart
"The boasting and bluster that marked the just-ended era of easy money varied depending on the speaker and his stake in the boom. But the underlying message was consistent: This time it's different. When it came to the hazards associated with borrowing, the old rules no longer applied."

From the Economist: The agonies of agflation
"The soaring prices of bushels and barrels are not unconnected. The cost of agricultural commodities, just like oil and metals, has gone up sharply over the past couple of years. Aside from wheat, the prices of corn, rice and barley have all risen by over a third since 2005. Food prices around the world are rising so quickly that a new term has been coined to describe the ballooning price of breakfast staples and dinner-time favorites: agflation."

From Strategy+Business: The Era of the Inclusive Leader
"As turnover levels off, our annual CEO succession study shows chief executives and their boards adopting new survival strategies."

From Fortune: Riding the social networks wave
"This wave hasn't crested - it really is the next big thing - but who knows where it will all lead? Can Microsoft and Yahoo jump in? Fortune's David Kirkpatrick explores the next phases."

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