Here's my pick for this week of longer articles from all over the web. If you've got a Kindle or other eReader, consult the first in this series for how to send them straight from your browser to your device to enjoy later

The Doom Loop - Andrew Haldane

It's a topic that is discussed a lot at the moment, but rarely with the kind of clarity or finesse you'll find in this London Review of Books piece. How can we put a sense of equity back into the banking system? And was it even there to begin with?

In a Baghdad ER, Women’s Psychological Wounds Go Untreated - Lubna Naji

Not such a long one, this, but a devastatingly good read - an account from a 25-year-old junior doctor in Baghdad about the kind of patients she sees, and how she herself is treated.

The Wrath of Putin - Masha Gessen

A mammoth account of the Russian prime minister's clash with Mikhail Khodorkovsky, formerly the richest man in Russia, who challenged the then-president over state corruption in 2003. Given that most of the coverage of the Russian elections succumbs to the crushing inevitability of Putin's victory, this piece makes a welcome change.

Ayn Rand: the Tea Party's Miscast Matriarch - Pam Martens

A comprehensive, if slightly convoluted, take down of the Tea Party's obsession with Ayn Rand. The widest gulf between Rand and her Tea Party devotees, Martens notes, is on the issue of God - 'she hated religion'.

Which is the best language to learn? - Robert Lane

So you already speak English, but you want to learn another language, and you want to pick the one that's going to serve you best around the world. You might assume it would be Mandarin or Spanish, but Lane makes a surprisingly strong case here for French

Tags: Weekend reads