I never feel comfortable with self promotion, but for the indefatigable out there check out my latest essay under the Featured Works section, “The Chasm Between the Economy and Finance.” For the not-so-indefatigable, just check out the intro, corporate profits, and the ending. Comments, as always, are welcomed.
Archive for the ‘Nation’ Category
The Chasm Between the Economy and Finance
Posted in Culture, E. L. Beck, Nation, Politics, tagged corporate profits, economic power, economy, finance, hedge funds, merger & acquisitions, money migration, sovereign funds, threats to governance, threats to liberty, Wall Street on November 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Troop Levels: Reality Hits Home
Posted in Community, Nation, Politics, Public, Steve S., War, World, tagged Afghanistan, Troop numbers on November 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
David Wood at Politics Daily answers the question I have been pondering in the debate about troop levels for Afghanistan. Do we have enough troops? Key quotes…..
Here’s what worries the planners: The Army has 44 brigade combat teams (BCTs), its basic deploying unit of between 3,500 and 4,500 soldiers. Of those, [...]
A Dying City Upon a Hill
Posted in Nation, Politics, Truth Excavator, War on November 6, 2009 | 10 Comments »
I live in a nation where it ain’t what’s physical that fights us
Now it’s silent strikes from political insiders
- Deacon the Villain, Cunninlynguists – “Dying Nation”
When tragedy strikes a people, it’s easy to look outside for a cause to explain the sudden event. It could be an ideology, a nation, a religion, or, supposedly, a [...]
History and Tax Cuts
Posted in Community, Culture, Nation, Politics, Public, Steve S., tagged fiscal responsibility, taxes on November 5, 2009 | 4 Comments »
Thoma had too good of an article up yesterday for me to pass it up on tax cuts and recoveries. Key quotes…..
In 1982, with the economy in the second part of its double-dip recession, Reagan signed a tax increase, meant to reduce the deficit. Here’s Bruce Bartlett, writing at Forbes.com:
According to a recent Treasury [...]
The Treasury Won’t Stop Singing
Posted in Culture, E. L. Beck, Nation, Politics, tagged bailouts, Banks, TARP, Wall Street on November 4, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Hang on, ladies and gents, the Treasury is just getting warmed up. Check out this tidbit from salon.com:
As evidenced by two little-noticed sections of the Obama administration’s Wall Street “reform” bill, presidents and their bank benefactors are back to thinking they can pilfer whatever they want — only now they have learned to camouflage their [...]
Jesus Loves the Bankers
Posted in Culture, E. L. Beck, Nation, Politics, tagged bankers, Christianity, England, investment banks on November 4, 2009 | 2 Comments »
There is something just plain creepy about having bankers from Goldman Sachs, Lazard and Barclays take the pulpit and preach a defense of powerful banking interests using Christianity. What is it about the Anglican and Catholic churches in England, where they feel the need for Open-Mike Sundays for Bankers?
Frame Ups Are Legal
Posted in Community, Law, Nation, Politics, Public, Steve S., tagged Illegal prosecution on November 4, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Driving to work this morning I heard on the radio that the Supreme Court will be hearing a case that deals with prosecutorial immunity. Outside the Beltway has a short piece on this case also.
In brief, a policeman was killed. The only witness was a 16 y/o with a [...]
U.K. Breaking Up Big Banks
Posted in Commerce, Community, Nation, Public, Steve S., World, tagged Splitting up banks, United Kingdom on November 2, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I forgot to reset the alarm clock, so I was up early and scanning the news. Via Baseline Scenario I learned from the WSJ that the UK is breaking up its big banks. Key quotes….
The U.K.’s top treasury official Sunday said the government is starting a process to rebuild the country’s banking [...]
Clinton Speaks The Truth
Posted in Nation, Politics, Public, Steve S., War, World, tagged al Qaeda, diplomacy, Pakistan on October 31, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Nope, that is not a misprint. Ricks at FP gives kudos to Hillary Clinton for speaking the truth in Pakistan. Key quote…
The US secretary of state questioned Pakistan’s commitment to the fight against al-Qaida, saying she found it hard to believe that no-one in the Pakistan government knows where senior figures are hiding.
“I find [...]
Defusing the Taliban
Posted in Media, Nation, Politics, Steve S., War, World, tagged Afghaistan, Recruiting Taliban on October 31, 2009 | 7 Comments »
Sean Naylor at Army Times (via Ackerman I think) has a nice piece up on how we are attempting to reintegrate reintegrate Taliban members. Key quotes….
KABUL, Afghanistan — A new initiative to persuade low- and mid-level Afghan insurgents to lay down their weapons and rejoin society is already bearing fruit and holds [...]
Iraq: Preparing For The Civil War
Posted in Culture, Nation, Politics, Steve S., War, World, tagged Iraq, democracy, Civil war on October 30, 2009 | 2 Comments »
I missed this from the NYT by the ex-mayor of Tel Afar in Iraq. Those on the right side of politics seem to think that we already “won” in Iraq. I believe that we had tactical success in controlling violence, but most of the essential political solutions were not achieved. [...]
Assessing the Economy: What We Need To Do
Posted in Commerce, Community, Nation, Politics, Public, Steve S., World, tagged Japan's lost decade, breaking up banks on October 30, 2009 | 1 Comment »
The Baseline Scenario people have redone their assessment and forward looking policy recommendations here. Simon Johnson was past head of the IMF and has a lot of insight into international economics. There is a little bit to like and dislike in his recommendations for everyone. His comparisons with our economy and Japan’s during [...]
Did the Great Society Fail?
Posted in Community, Culture, Nation, Public, Steve S., tagged Charity for the elderly, poverty on October 29, 2009 | 7 Comments »
In many ways, yes. However, the graph of the day indicates that one group has benefitted from the programs which came from that era, the elderly. Looking back to a time before Medicare, when families were bigger, when government was perceived as smaller, we see that the elderly really did suffer quite a bit. We [...]
Moral Hazard as the Goal
Posted in Commerce, Community, Nation, Politics, Public, Steve S., World, tagged Justice, moral hazard, central banking on October 29, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Steve Waldman at Interfluidity has a (via Cowen) great piece up on central banking. Key quotes……
The Greenspan/Bernanke doctrine can be summed up by three familiar words, “Yes We Can!” Greenspan famously concluded that we can “mop up” asset price bubbles after they burst, rather than interfering with the dynamic whereby asset [...]
Public Option with Opt Outs
Posted in Commerce, Health Care, Health Care Proposals, Nation, Politics, Steve S., tagged Opt outs on October 28, 2009 | 2 Comments »
My priorities for health care reform were costs, portability, opt out options for individual states and universal coverage, in that order. I knew it was unlikely that any of those other than broadened coverage was very likely. There is a big group of people who think that we should insure everyone [...]
Cheerleader-In-Chief
Posted in Culture, Ethics, Media, Nation, Politics, Public, Steve S., tagged honesty, President as cheerleader on October 27, 2009 | 1 Comment »
The office of President of the United States combines the position of head of state and head of government. This meant that we had Bush telling us the wars in Afghanistan and iraq were going well, when we were obviously in trouble. Bush defended the economy when the disaster was unfolding. We now [...]
Unemployment Graph of the Day
Posted in Commerce, Community, Nation, Politics, Public, Steve S., tagged ideology, lagging indicator, unemployment on October 27, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Via Thoma , the following graph of unemployment should be kept in mind when assessing the economy. Two points:
1) No matter what we are promised by the Obama administration, unemployment is most likely going to continue and probably worsen. We should expect this to be worse than in our usual bubble deflating recession.
2) This is [...]
Drugs and Red Light Districts
Posted in Community, Culture, Ethics, Nation, Politics, Public, Steve S., World on October 27, 2009 | 7 Comments »
Peter Moskos, whose book Cop In The Hood I reviewed a bit ago, has a great piece up on decriminalizing drugs. Key quotes….
In Amsterdam, the red-light district is the oldest and most notorious neighborhood. Two picturesque canals frame countless small pedestrian alleyways lined with legal prostitutes, bars, porn stores and coffee shops. [...]
Taliban Copy Petraeus
Posted in Community, Ethics, Nation, Public, Steve S., War, World, tagged Afghanistan, hearts and minds, Insurgency on October 26, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Steve Coll reports that the Taliban are now following many of the tenets of COIN developed in FM 3-24. Key quotes…
Over the summer, the Afghan Taliban’s military committee distributed “A Book of Rules,” in Pashto, to its fighters. The book’s eleven chapters seem to draw from the population-centric principles of F.M. 3-24, the [...]
The New Economics
Posted in Commerce, Community, Culture, Nation, Public, Steve S., tagged Changing economic theory, simplify on October 26, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Joseph Stiglitz, via Thoma, has a nice piece up on the future of economics. Key quotes…..
But there is, in fact, a much greater diversity of ideas within the economics profession than is often realized. This year’s Nobel laureates in economics are two scholars whose life work explored alternative approaches. Economics has generated a wealth of [...]
The Taj Mahal of Medicine
Posted in Commerce, Community, Culture, Health Care, Nation, Public, Steve S., tagged Health care spending, lavish facilities on October 25, 2009 | 1 Comment »
As I noted in an earlier post, I have been reading more on international health care, starting with T.R. Reid’s The Healing Of America. One of the things which has struck me in my readings has been the emphasis on keeping down costs in the rest of the world. Words [...]
Health Insurance Company Profits
Posted in Commerce, Health Care, Nation, Public, Steve S., tagged not-for-profit, health insurance, profits, denial of care on October 23, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Suppose, arguendo, that physicians are engaged in best practice medicine. Assume that hospitals and other care providers are doing the same. What then would insurance company profits mean? Profits are supposed to act as a signal for investors. What would that tell us? Would it mean, since the care provided would essentially [...]
Roman Architecture, Bombing Iran
Posted in Culture, Nation, Politics, Public, Steve S., Technology, War, World, tagged Bombing, Concrete, Iran, Rome on October 23, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Pictured above is the Pantheon. The Romans built it 1800 years ago and it still has the largest dome made of unreinforced concrete in the world. Architects and engineers have spent years unraveling its mysteries. Chief among them is Roman concrete. The ability to make concrete has come and gone throughout history. The knowledge [...]
Afghanistan: Protect Thyself
Posted in Community, Nation, Public, Steve S., War, World, tagged Afghanistan, Surge, Viet Nam, Taliban, financial collapse on October 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Tony Corn has published an insightful piece at Small Wars Journal. This piece is important not only for its policy suggestions, but for an understanding of basic facts. Key quotes….
On the negative side, the 66-page report is probably the only example in history of a military assessment that delivers all kinds of information [...]
International Medicine
Posted in Commerce, Health Care, Nation, Public, Steve S., World, tagged Comparing care, Health costs on October 21, 2009 | 5 Comments »
I have finally got around to reading T.R. Reid’s The Healing Of America. It is well written and readable as it describes other health care systems around the world and tries to apply it to the problems we face in our system. To be accurate, Reid points out that we do [...]
