Facing the New World Financial Order

American Public Debt and Chinese Private Debt--Problems for Trump's Vision

A Nationalist Approach to Economic Policy

Trump's Carrier Deal

Ad Hoc Capitalism

I've blogged about this previously, but Larry Summers makes a more complete and troubling case about the potential impact of the pressure exerted on Carrier to keep jobs in Indiana. Think about it this way: some workers in Indiana (we don't yet know for sure how many) get to keep their jobs. People who buy the products produced in that factory pay more than they would if the products were produced cheaper in Mexico. How is this fundamentally different from taxing all of us to provide education and/or relocation assistance to the workers who would have lost their jobs? Now Carrier is exposed to lower cost producers outside the US, who could take market share away and cause the workers in Indiana to lose their jobs anyway. Of course, we could impose tariffs on those producers, which would make Carrier competitive again. Then other countries might impose tariffs on American goods, making us less competitive in markets outside the US... A vicious pattern that does no one good. Either we are a market economy based on known rules or we risk devolving into crony capitalism like Russia or China. Forget the cheerleaders lauding Trump's action. This was a bad decision.

Also see:

The Carrier Deal and the Peso.

The Conservative View Re Trump's Business Ethics Problem

From the Washington Examiner--not so different from the view on the left.

A Real Blind Trust for Trump's Fortune

George Bush's Ethics Lawyer on Trump the President and Trump the Businessman

Trump's Business Empire Isn't Just an Ethical Disaster

Here are the Graphics:

Trump Conflicts of Interest

Americans Like the Provisions of Obamacare

They've just been brainwashed to not like Obamacare.

What Republicans Should Know About the ACA

Is There a Pattern Here We Should Be Worried About?

"The first thing you need to understand here is that Republican talk 
of “repeal and replace” has always been a fraud. The G.O.P. has 
spent six years claiming that it will come up with a replacement 
for Obamacare any day now; the reason it hasn’t delivered is that 
it can’t.

Obamacare looks the way it does because it has to: You can’t cover 
Americans with pre-existing conditions without requiring healthy 
people to sign up, and you can’t do that without subsidies to make 
insurance affordable.

Any replacement will either look a lot like Obamacare, or take 
insurance away from millions who desperately need it.

What the choice of Mr. Price suggests is that the Trump administration
is, in fact, ready to see millions lose insurance. And many of those 
losers will be Trump supporters."

Seduced and Betrayed

Waiting for Trump

From Project Syndicate: "That is why we must not fool ourselves about Trump, or permit efforts to normalize his administration – whether by his allies, his weakened domestic opponents, or a pliant press – to go unchallenged. As Palacio puts it, “clinging to optimism – the belief that things will end well – is pointless.” Damage will be done – at home and abroad – by Trump’s election, because damage already has been done. “Instead,” Palacio says, “we must find grounds for hope – the belief that things will eventually make sense.” And “the only way to do that is to be honest with ourselves and take a sober look at what we can and must do to ensure the most that can be achieved.”

Waiting for Trump

Atlas Didn't Shrug

We don't need no stinking capitalism.


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Are We Being Wrong-Headed About Industrial Policy?

Picking losers isn't great industrial policy.

What is the nature of the problem we are addressing? I saw three articles today that relate to this issue. One related declining manufacturing in specific areas to increased white male mortality, arguing that increased unemployment was the direct cause of increased mortality rates among white males. ( one wonders about the causation/correclation issue with this study.) A second proposed a slightly different and perhaps sounder explanation for increased white male mortality (See here.). The Third reviewed the changes in manufacturing output relative to employment (See here.).

The point is that trying to prop up stagnant or declining industries may not solve the decline of manufacturing employment. Those jobs didn't leave for other countries--for the most part they just left--and the majority of them aren't coming back no matter how hard any politician jawbones.

We need to support smart, new industries and deal directly with the problems created by sectoral and technological change. Help people--not companies.

Recognizing Economic Geography

A New Map for America

Mr. Trump and the Constitution

Mr. Trump: Meet the Constitution

The Evidence Mounts That We Have Elected a Seriously Unbalanced Man as President

I was beginning to come to grips with the results of the election, but after seeing some of the president-elect's appointments and his response to Clinton's increasingly large lead in the popular vote, I beginning to wonder if there's not something seriously wrong with Donald Trump. When things get really tough how is he going to respond?

Pressure Mounts and Trump's Tantrums Become More Frequent

Another Piece of ObamaCare That Trump Should Keep

Making Health Care More Effective

Post Literacy

Some interesting insights on the impact of non-book literacy.

“People wonder why their daughter is taking 10,000 photos a day. What they don’t realize is that she isn’t preserving images. She’s talking.”


Donald Trump--the First President of Our Post-Literate Age

Wells Fargo Wants Defrauded Customers to Undergo Arbitration

Look up chutzpa in the dictionary and it says "see Wells Fargo."

Wells Fargo Accounts Arbitration

Vouchers versus Charter Schools

There is no evidence that vouchers improve educational outcomes--in fact just the opposite. There is considerable evidence that charter schools can be a positive force, but only if there is supervision and accountability.

The Wrong Way to Fix Public Schools


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Repealing Obamacare

How many people is the GOP willing to hurt? This is an instance where Trump is thinking more clearly than the rest of his party. Their determination to oppose everything Obama accomplished has blinded them to the realities of health insurance and the positive changes the ACA has brought to the lives of millions of Americans. No one can deny that the law is flawed as it stands, but better to fix it than repeal it. Repealing it before fixing or replacing it can only lead to chaos.

GOP and Healthcare Chaos


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Location:S Highway 69,Big Cabin,United States

A Response to Krugman

There's a lot of truth here for liberals to take in. Especially the Democratic establishment. We/they acted a lot like the Republicans in the last election. It's dangerous to write off any section of the populace--as Clinton discovered. It may be difficult to appeal to everyone, but it's a task worthy of any candidate. Of course one would like to accomplish such a goal without resorting to lying.


Krugman and the Working Class


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Pitfalls and Opportunities in the Middle East

What will motivate Trump's policies in this crucial area? So far his foreign policy appointments haven't given us much insight.

Donald Trump's Choices in the Middle East


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Trump's Opportunity

Trump and Great Business Ideas for America


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A Portent of Things to Come?

“If America wants to know what is coming, it should study what happened here. It’s predictive,” said Martin Ford, a local government representative. “I have just seen him do in America, on a grander scale, precisely what he did here. He suckered the people and he suckered the politicians until he got what he wanted, and then he went back on pretty much everything he promised.”

Donald Trump in Scotland

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Charter Schools and Accountability

Charter schools aren't necessarily a bad idea. But execution is critical. Why are so many charter school supporters against accountability? Ms. DeVos and Michigan are a prime example of why charter schools often get a bad rap. Throwing money at for-profit charter schools without demanding accountability is asking for failure. Good for investors, bad for students and their parents.

The Secretary and Charter Schools in Michigan

And a longer article on how to ruin a school system and ways to save it.

Detroit as a case study.


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Humor in the White House

Farewell to the Comedian in Chief

But in 2017, the joke will be on us.


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For What It's Worth

There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware…

The Populism Perplex


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See You in Court.

Donald Trump and the Lawsuit Presidency

An American iPhone--Not Likely

An American iPhone--Not Happening


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The City Upon a Hill

Brad DeLong:

American Patriotism: New England vs. Virginia vs. Ethno-Linguistic
Preview of American Patriotism New England vs Virginia vs Ethno Linguistic

There are, broadly speaking, three kinds of American patriotism. There is Kentucky, which is the standard ethno-linguistic nationalism of soil and blood (think: age of Andrew Jackson). There is Virginia, which is a peculiar form of libertarianism-of-adoption: "we" have come here so that nobody else can boss "us" or those we adopt to become "us" around (think: Thomas Jefferson). And there is New England, which is the utopian nationalism of election: those who elect to come here and help "us" to build utopia are "us", and are very welcome as long as they commit to building the City Upon a Hill.

To no one's surprise, I like the third kind. And here is its root, in John Winthrop's Arabella Sermon:

John Winthrop: From "A Model of Christian Charity":

"We are entered into covenant with Him for this work...

...We have taken out a commission. The Lord hath given us leave to draw our own articles. We have professed to enterprise these and those accounts, upon these and those ends. We have hereupon besought Him of favor and blessing. Now if the Lord shall please to hear us, and bring us in peace to the place we desire, then hath He ratified this covenant and sealed our commission, and will expect a strict performance of the articles contained in it. But if we shall neglect the observation of these articles which are the ends we have propounded, and, dissembling with our God, shall fall to embrace this present world and prosecute our carnal intentions, seeking great things for ourselves and our posterity, the Lord will surely break out in wrath against us, and be revenged of such a people, and make us know the price of the breach of such a covenant.

The only way to avoid this shipwreck is to follow the Counsel of Micah: "to do Justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God". For this end:

we must be knit together in this work as one man,
we must entertain each other in brotherly affection,
we must be willing to abridge our selves of our superfluities for the supply of others necessities,
we must uphold a familiar commerce together in all meekness, gentleness, patience, and liberality,
we must delight in each other, make others' conditions our own, rejoice together, mourn together, labour and suffer together,
always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work, our Community as members of the same body.

So shall we keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. The Lord will be our God and delight to dwell among us as his own people, and will command a blessing upon us in all our ways, so that we shall see much more of his wisdom, power, goodness, and truth then formerly we have been acquainted with.

We shall find that the God of Israel is among us when ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies, when he shall make us a praise and glory, that men shall say of succeeding plantations: "The Lord make it like that of New England." For we must Consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill: the eyes of all people are upon us.

So that if we shall deal falsely with our god in this work we have undertaken, and so cause him to withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword through the world. We shall open the mouths of enemies to speak evil of the ways of God and all professors for Gods sake. We shall shame the faces of many of God's worthy servants, and cause their prayers to be turned into curses upon us, till we be consumed out of the good land whether we are going.

And to shut up this discourse with that exhortation of Moses, that faithful servant of the Lord, in his last farewell to Israel, Deut. 30:

Beloved there is now set before us life, and good, death and evil, in that we are commanded this day to love the Lord our God, and to love one another, to walk in his ways and, to keep his commandments and his ordinances, and his laws, and the articles of our covenant with him, that we may live and be multiplied, and that the Lord our God may bless us in the land whither we go to possess it...

J. Bradford DeLong on November 23, 2016 at 07:29 PM


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Addressing the Impacts of Globalization

May be a challenge to follow but worth the work. Baldwin shows why Bernie was right (protect individual workers) and Trump is wrong (protect American jobs). The two are not equivalent. Protecting jobs will hurt all Americans, including workerS. Globalization is too broad a term to address the real problems caused by the expansion of the world economy over the past 200 years.

Outline of Richard Baldwin's new book on globalization


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Would You Rather Be California or Texas/Kansas

Despite the propaganda put out by the yahoos in the state government, Texas has not done as well economically as California and Kansas has done way worse.

California versus Trumplandia


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What Might Happen if Climate Change Is Not Contained

These interactive graphics show what could happen under different assumptions regarding changes in sea level due to climate change. Are these risks we are willing to take by denying that climate change is real?

What the deniers climate legacy could look like.

Also, this summary of the science as promoting ignorance movement is relevant to the incoming administration.

Climate change in Trump's Age of Ignorance.


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The Republicans Would Cut Off Their Nose to Spite Obama

The TPP has weaknesses, but backing out now would hurt America's interests and give a leg up to China. It's just another example of "if Obama likes it, we must hate it."

Making China Great (Again)


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Location:W Oak St,Louisville,United States

It's not Keynes--It's Ripping Off the Taxpayers

Infrastructure Build or Privatization Scam?


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Location:I-30 W, Hope, Arkansas United States

Look Out Trump Voters, He's Coming for Your Medicare

Not a surprise to the rest of us, but you've been hornswaggled.

The Medicare Killers


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What Did Obama Do as President, You May Ask?

If anyone ever asks you what President Obama has done in eight years.

Note how many of these actions were aimed at making government more transparent, efficient and less sleazy.

400 Obama Accomplishments (So Far) with Citations

Winning an Election Does not Entitle One to Upend Basic Values

Larry Summers:

"The widespread perception is something like this.  Mr. Trump has vowed to ban Muslims from entering the country and to force deportation of Mexicans. He has ridiculed the disabled. He has accepted without criticism the enthusiastic support of the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups that were previously on the fringes of society. He has invoked standard anti-Semitic tropes in his political advertising. And he has made clear that he believes grabbing and groping women is appropriate behavior.

Black students, gay students, Hispanic students, Muslim students, disabled students, female students – all of them now fear that the basic security and acceptance on which they relied is at risk. Help lines are flooded with calls.  Those who seek to count hateful incidents report an upsurge. 

It is surely wrong to hold the President-elect personally responsible for all the words and deeds of all who support him.  Equally, the President-elect has a moral obligation to stand up for tolerance and against intolerance whatever its source...

More importantly, democracy does not mean electrocracy. Winning an election does not entitle one to upend our basic values. The refusal to tolerate blatant racism, bigotry and misogyny are beyond compromise.  The first obligation of anyone currently in a leadership position is not to find common ground with our new President-elect now that the ballots have been counted and the election is over. It is instead to once again make it possible for all who live in our country to feel safe."

Larry Summers: Anti Political Correctness

The Messy Politics of Obamacare Repeal

"The best policy and politics would be to fix parts of the law that have produced big recent increases in the cost of premiums for the sliver of Americans who don't get insurance through Medicare, Medicaid or their employers, and don't qualify for subsidies through Obamacare. Some cutbacks and additional cost controls would also be useful and popular. But the Republican base would never accept those measures, meaning the likely course will be to craft a radical replacement.

Then, a year or two from now, the headlines wouldn't be about rising premiums or not being able to keep your own doctor. They'd be about some of the 20 million newly insured people being thrown off the rolls; cutbacks in Medicaid for poorer Americans; crowded emergency rooms; weakening of provisions that are reducing hospital-caused patient harms; maybe some hospitals going broke, and the insurance industry in chaos. If Ryan gets his way there could also be articles about steps toward privatizing Medicare despite Trump's campaign pledge not to. (The Speaker was called out for falsely claiming last week that this course was needed because Obamacare is causing Medicare to go "broke." In reality, the full solvency of the hospital part of Medicare has been extended for up to 12 years.)"

From Bloomberg View on repealing Obamacare.

If You Thought Trump's Win Would Change the Nature of America--You Were Right

Apparently many of Trump's supporters believe his election gives them free rein to follow through on his campaign rhetoric.

So far more than 400 incidents of hate, intimidation and harassment since the election.

Q: How you tell if Paul Ryan is lying? A: His lips are moving.

Republican Falsehoods About the Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare)

The Value of Work

I think Sherrod Brown should be a prime candidate for leading the Democratic Party post-Obama.

Sherrod Brown: When Work Loses It's Dignity.

Climate Change and US Security

Military Leaders Urge Trump to See Climate Change as a Security Threat

Link to The Center for Climate and Security

Helping Republicans Understand Health Insurance

Or maybe they do understand it--that would be worse.

What would be worse than completely repealing Obamacare?

What Rough Beast (apologies to W.B. Yeats)

Leave it to a Brit to understand us better than we understand ourselves.

Robert Skidelsky-- Slouching Towards Trump

For reference W.B. Yeats, "The Second Coming"


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Global Bull in the China Shop

Philippe Legrain--Trump's New World Disorder


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Can Trump Be Tamed?

Nouriel Roubini--The Taming of Trump


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Is Trump the Second Coming of George Bush?

Jeffrey Frankel--Who is President Trump?


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What America's Economy Needs From Trump

Joseph Stiglitz


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Do Republicans Really Understand Health Insurance?

Obamacare is easy to criticize, but hard to replace.

The Republicans and Obamacare


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Paul Krugman's Day Has Improved

The Long Haul.


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Does Character Matter?

Maybe, Maybe Not


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The Revenge of the Deplorables

There is some truth in what Clive Crook says. The most qualified, yet burdened, candidate in history ran what was in retrospect a very dumb campaign. Clinton and her handlers didn't realize the impact of Trump staking out an extreme position on some issues--like immigration--like trade--like... Her reaction in many cases was to take the other extreme when, as Crook says, she might well have been advised to recognize the grain of truth in what Trump was saying. As a candidate one doesn't have to oppose everything one's opponent says.

Clive Crook: The Revenge of the Deplorables


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Trump and Potential Ethics Issues

The questions he could ignore as a candidate may be harder to dismiss as president. Especially if his kids don't run the business the way he would like. Or horrors, run it into the ground.

Trump's Business Ties Will Run Afoul of the Constitution

The Conflicts of Interest President


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OMG. Trump Has Turned David Brooks Into a Liberal

David Brooks has always been the conservative counterpoint to the liberal columnists in the NYT. Post-Trump, he's beginning to sound like Paul Krugman. I wonder how many more transitions like this we'll see?

David Brooks: The View from Trump Tower


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The View from Outside

Because of who we are and the role we have played in world affairs since 1945, our politics is more important than we might think. Most of the rest of the world (Russia excluded), for varying reasons, watched our election with dread. Now their worst fears have been realized. What sort of president will Trump be for the rest of the world?

For Europe, Trump's Election Is a Terrifying Disaster


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To See the Potential Future of a Trump Presidency We Have Only to Look at Trump as Entreprenurial Grifter

Where will Trump's policies strike home? Where will resistance come from? Will it be effective? Will being president enlighten Trump about how the world really works? Will he adapt?

Resist Much.


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An Early Assessment of Trumponomics

Steven Rattner on the potential effects of Trump's economic plan. The appeal of portions of his plan to certain groups of voters is based on a lack of understanding of how the economy fits together. Some of the rest, eliminating regulations for example, would eliminate constraints on banks and big business that could have significant negative effects on ordinary people.

First. Do Harm.


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Can the Foxes Really Guard the Henhouse?

The Wrong People to Drain the Swamp


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Paul Krugman Is Having a Really Bad Day...

But he has some good advice.

Thoughts For the Horrified


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Mother Nature Isn't Happy

Physics doesn't care who is president.


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Garrison Kellor's Advice to Democrats

Can Democrats Really Relax?


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Let's Be Clear About What Happened

The people who put Trump over the top weren't who we expected. It was well-off and educated white males. Among the well-off and educated, only women gave a majority to Hillary. What did the males in this group see in Trump (or fail to see in Hillary)? What do they expect from Trump as president?

And what we should do.


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The Governor Prayed for Oil--Here's Her Answer

SCIAM: Magnitude 5.0 Earthquake strikes Oklahoma

I'm Still A Lance Armstrong Fan

He beat unbeatable cancer and when he tried to compete in the Tour, he saw that everyone else had an advantage--they doped. He decided not to get beaten, so he doped, too. He beat everyone, just as he would have beaten everyone if they had all been clean.

Lance Armstrong Tries to Recycle His Image


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Tax Cuts for the Rich Only Cause Deficits

Time to throw away the notion that tax cuts for the rich will stimulate the economy. It is a notion unsupported by any evidence. The case of Kansas provides a strong counterargument--it's hard to see how Kansas can escape from its current budget problems without raising taxes back to at least the levels before Brownback's cuts. The damage to the Kansas economy may be virtually permanent.

William G Gale: An Agenda for Inclusive Growth

If You're Wondering About That Nobel Prize I

"My Back Pages (1964)"

Crimson flames tied through my ears
Rollin' high and mighty traps
Pounced with fire on flaming roads
Using ideas as my maps
"We'll meet on edges, soon," said I
Proud 'neath heated brow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.

Half-cracked prejudice leaped forth
"Rip down all hate," I screamed
Lies that life is black and white
Spoke from my skull, I dreamed
Romantic facts of musketeers
Foundationed deep, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.

Girls' faces formed the forward path
From phony jealousy
To memorizing politics
Of ancient history
Flung down by corpse evangelists
Unthought of, thought, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.

A self-ordained professor's tongue
Too serious to fool
Spouted out that liberty
Is just equality in school
"Equality," I spoke the word
As if a wedding vow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.

In a soldier's stance, I aimed my hand
At the mongrel dogs who teach
Fearing not that I'd become my enemy
In the instant that I preach
My existence led by confusion boats
Mutiny from stern to bow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.

Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats
Too noble to neglect
Deceived me into thinking
I had something to protect
Good and bad, I define these terms
Quite clear, no doubt, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now.

If You're Wondering About That Nobel Prize II

Not Dark Yet (1997)

Bob Dylan

Shadows are fallin' and I've been here all day
It's too hot to sleep and time is runnin' away
Feel like my soul has turned into steel
I've still got the scars that the sun didn't heal
There's not even room enough to be anywhere
It's not dark yet but it's gettin' there.

Well, my sense of humanity has gone down the drain
Behind every beautiful thing there's been some kind of pain
She wrote me a letter and she wrote it so kind
She put down in writin' what was in her mind
I just don't see why I should even care
It's not dark yet but it's gettin' there.

Well, I've been to London and I been to gay Paris
I've followed the river and I got to the sea
I've been down on the bottom of the world full of lies
I ain't lookin' for nothin' in anyone's eyes
Sometimes my burden is more than I can bear
It's not dark yet but it's gettin' there.

I was born here and I'll die here against my will
I know it looks like I'm movin' but I'm standin' still
Every nerve in my body is so naked and numb
I can't even remember what it was I came here to get away from
Don't even hear the murmur of a prayer

It's not dark yet but it's gettin' there.

Last Election Post from Me Until November 9

It's depressing watching Trump eat away at Clinton's lead. His tactics are beyond the pale--insisting that Mrs Clinton's election will create a "constitutional crisis." His claims that the election is rigged are fatuous. He wants to sue everyone who has challenged him. He and his surrogates are doing everything they can to chip away at the American democratic process.

But beyond that I am depressed by the number of people who have voted or who intend to vote for Trump. I can't even guess what they think they would get. His economic and foreign policies are insane--we've seen what his improving prospects have done to the stock market over the past few days. Most people in other countries think we're insane to slow  candidate to get this far--Saudi Arabia with nukes!

More than two thirds of the statements out of his mouth are lies, but he has the gall to call Hillary a liar. One publication went through his speeches and discovered he tells a lie on average every three minutes. His feelings towards women and minorities--essentially anyone different from him--have been clearly set out during the campaign.

Hillary may not be the perfect candidate, but no one can argue that there has ever been a more qualified person to run for president. Trump's ignorance of anything outside real estate fraud is a disgrace to grownups every where.

I find the prospect of a Trump presidency absolutely frightening. I can't understand why some people view it without concern.

The Era of the Big Lie

For me, the most amazing thing about this campaign is that Trump has been able to paint Hillary as a liar and the news media has allowed him to get away with it. In any rational world Trump would have been called out so repeatedly for his lies that he wouldn't be able to carry even the reddest state. Trump doesn't have even a passing acquaintance with the truth. He can tweet something at night and deny it in the morning. And 40+ percent of my fellow citizens are going to vote for him. This is both astonishing and depressing.

The Post Truth Presidency

The Decline of the American Political System

I watch in wonderment as seemingly rational people vote for a disgrace to humanity.

Paul Krugman: Who Broke Politics

What Was Comey Thinking?

He went against all advice and prior practice in his letter to Congress. Once you think about it, there is virtually no chance that the emails found on Weiner's computer haven't already been seen by the FBI. There is also virtually no chance that we'll know this for sure until after the election. Comey has already provided unnecessary partisan editorializing regarding Mrs. Clinton's use of a private server--just the facts ma'am. He has tarnished his own reputation and that of the FBI. 

Paul Krugman: Working the Refs.

Cargo Cult Economics

Brad DeLong: Would Higher Interest Rates Boost Economic Growth?

The Supreme Court

Texas Leads the Country in the Percentage of Children Who are Uninsured

From the Texas Monthly: A recently released report by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families shows that Texas accounts for an astounding 20 percent of the nation's uninsured children with a staggering 682,000 kids without health insurance coverage in 2015. But, as the Texas Tribune notes, Texas is improving a bit. There were 888,000 uninsured children in the state in 2013, and the rate of uninsured kids has dropped from 16.6 percent in 2009 to 9.5 percent in 2015, though that's still double the 4.8 percent national average. The only state with a higher rate of uninsured children in 2015 than Texas was Alaska. According to the Georgetown Center's executive director, the blame falls on Texas' shoulders. “I think it speaks to this ongoing resistance and reluctance to embrace the coverage agenda,” Joan Alker told the Tribune. “We know that just because we’re talking about kids doesn’t mean that all states will do the right thing.” 

Clinton and Trump Surrogates Debate Energy Policy

Summary of the debate.

More on the Problems With Obamacare

Most people are unaffected--if you have employer subsidized healthcare, if you have Medicare or Medicaid or if you qualify for a subsidy on the exchange. Some well functioning exchanges don't have this problem (California). Others have been managed by their state governments to maximize this problem.

These "problems" are easily fixable.

Saving Obamacare

Congress crippled the Affordable Care Act by eliminating a public option. There is no reason a public option cannot work alongside private insurance. Private insurers oppose it because it would reduce their profits and make it difficult to pay exorbitant salaries to their CEOs. Medicare has been instrumental in lowering costs (and could do more if Congress allowed Medicare to bargain with pharmaceutical companies). Why not make Medicare available to anyone who wanted it. Pre-65 subscribers might have to pay more than retirees, but costs would likely be cheaper than private insurance, especially if everyone was required to enroll in some plan. The same subsidies that low income subscribers receive now on the exchanges could be used to make costs reasonable.

Jacob S. Hacker: The Best Way to Save Obamacare

O Canada!

Do you suppose we can apply for annexation? Maybe the Northeast, Great Lakes and the Pacific Coast?

The Economist: Liberty Moves North

Is the Financial System Still Dangerous?

We still haven't solved our problems with regulating the financial system. In a lot of ways the complexity of Dodd-Frank made things worse by hiding the real problems behind a confusing curtain. Banks are not less risky than they were before 2008 abut we've made it seem that way.

Anat Admati: It Takes a Village to Maintain a Dangerous Financial System

Federal Reserve Independence Is an Attribute Worth Keeping

Anyone who thinks Congress can do a better job with monetary policy than the Fed, raise your hand. The Fed has always been audited, both by independent internal auditors and an outside firm. Today's "audit the Fed" push is no more than an attempt by Congress to meddle with something they know almost nothing about. If you don't believe me, take a look at some of the questions they've asked Janet Yellen during her recent testimony.

The Fed has been the primary bastion against descent into the kind of troubles Europe is now facing. When the ECB tightened, the Fed loosened and we are much better off because of it. Now, if only Congress had done their half of the job and used fiscal policy to stimulate the economy beyond the first (and only) paltry attempt...


Alan Blinder: Hands Off the Fed

The Real Obama Stands Up.

Obama's comeuppance tour.

And if you want to see more (believe me it's worth it) check out his Hanoi dinner with Anthony Bourdain on CNN. Note: It's not Ok to eat ketchup on hot dogs if you're more than eight years old.

For a piece of it (minus the hot dog question): Anthony Bourdain--Parts Unknown Hanoi

It's Happened Before

Republicans came to their senses and refused to vote for Goldwater. Will today's Republicans do the same with Trump? The parallels are eerily similar.

Confessions of a Republican.

And if you're interested in whether things have changed?

Bill Bogert, Republican, today.

Republicans: Are You Trump?

David Leonhardt writing about his grandparents.

Dear Republican Voters.

Toto, I Bet You Wish You Weren't in Kansas Anymore.

So do most Kansans.

Kansas ends bad economic news by not reporting it.

I Didn't Know Abraham Lincoln, But Trump's No Abraham Lincoln

From the Polling Place.


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The Republicans Reap the Whirlwind--Or Are They the Whirlwind?

It's Trump's Party.

Let's Deal With the Worst Problems First

Government debt is not a problem right now.

Can the American Election Process Recover?

Dignity and Democracy

Trump Book Reports

Skip the video and read the book report tweets.

Donald Trump book reports.

The Eon of the Humans--The Sapiezoic

Will we survive to see it? The depressing lack of discussion of climate change in the presidential race this year reflects a serious problem. Our public discourse has largely been taken over by short sighted people who pander to the portion of us who refuse to look beyond our own comfort. Climate deniers dominate the current Congress, fossil fuel barons use their wealth to affect policy--all based on the claim that climate change is a hoax and that, anyway action to halt it is too costly. The science is clear and has convinced the majority that climate change is real. We need leaders with greater vision and the ability to convince people that maintaining a climate favorable to humans is possible without doing harm to those currently living on the planet.

How Long Will We Last? Deep Time, Deep Survival by David Grinspoon

How Do We Break the Silence on Climate Change?

Numerous commentators have bemoaned the fact that not a single question about climate change was asked during any of the debates (Mrs. Clinton did allude to it on two occasions).

Climate Silence Goes Way Beyond Debate Moderators

Hillary Clinton--The Right Human for the Job

Clinton is not winning because Trump is such a bad candidate, she's winning because she's the best prepared candidate in history.

Paul Krugman: Why Hillary Wins

David Brooks on Donald Trump and his Political Style

David Brooks is often wrong and sometimes confused, but he did get this right.

In the New York Times Friday October 21, 2016:

"Clearly, we have a giant task of moral repair ahead of us. That starts with a renunciation of the Trump style. One big lesson of 2016 is that that can only happen if people police members of their own party. If somebody is destroying the basic social and moral fabric through brutalistic rhetoric and vicious misogynistic behavior, it doesn’t really matter that he agrees with you on taxes and the Supreme Court; he has to be renounced or else he will drag the whole society to a level of degradation that will make all decent politics impossible."

Lost Sheep or Hypocrites?

Trump's candidacy and the evangelical right.

IBM goes Apple

As a certified Apple fanboy, I approved this message.

Macs are cheaper than Windows PCs

Once you consider lifetime and support.

What's the Matter with Hillary?

When I talk with my friends about the election (something I usually try to avoid) many of them indicate they have a problem deciding who to vote for because they "can't stand Hillary." I confess that I don't understand the problem. One can object to her policies (even though many of them would actually benefit Trump's core voters). But it's hard to understand why so many people seem to find her personally unlikeable. The link  below from Jennifer Hoelzer of the Huffington Post is sort of a annotated resume for Hillary Clinton. How is this a person who is unlikeable?

It's not OK to Hate Hillary Clinton

The Recovery in Perspective

The alternative was much more painful.

Fiscal Foolishness

Longer version with more detail.

What some people still don't understand about the stimulus.

Money Laundering at Trump SOHO

Dirty Money: Trump and the Kazakh Connection

Trump in Texas

From the Texas Monthly. Republicans control the electoral mechanism in Texas. Are they rigging it for Clinton? How paranoid do you have to be to believe that?

The Texas election is not rigged.

Democracy and Trump

If you weren't scared of a Trump presidency before, last night is an example why you should be. Trump marred his best debate performance (at least for 30 minutes until he began his ad hominem attacks) by refusing to say he would accept the results of the election. Even when elections have been questionably won, the loser has accepted the results without protest. The most recent being when Al Gore refused to appeal when the Supreme Court stopped the recount in Florida and gave the Presidency to George Bush.

The Third Presidential Debate

The Debate in One Scary Answer

A Passion for Texas

Photographer Wyman Meinzer


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The Embarrassing Truth About Child Poverty in America

Even Russia does better than us.

Give every child a monthly check

An Example of Why Richard Feynman Is a Fascinating Character

Show this to your kids' teachers.

Feynman on teaching math to kids

Trump Attacks Republican Elections Officials

Almost all the elections officials in battleground states are Republicans or appointed by Republican governors.

State officials counter Trumps claim of election rigging

One billion votes--31 credible incidences of fraud

Genius: A Biography of Richard Feynman

One of the best biographies you'll ever read and it's on sale at Amazon for $1.99 (Kindle edition).

Genius

When Politics Trumps Economics

Mohamad A. El-Erian: Toxic Politics Versus Better Economics

Rethinking Macroeconomics

Janet Yellen poses important post-great recession economic questions.

Is There a Double Standard?

Nicholas Kristof: If Hillary Clinton Groped Men.

How to Think about Taxes

Major Tax Issues in 2016

What Are Trump Voters Really Saying

Trump voters are not the marginalized white population. At the core they are people who have always voted Republican without thinking much about it or they are white nationalists. If you are planning on voting for Trump and don't think you fall into either of these categories, you need to worry about who you're in bed with.

Here's something to consider.

"Hillary Clinton, to her great credit, has offered programs ranging from expanded child care to free college to a plan to fight the opioid epidemic to child tax credit expansions to improvements to Obamacare that will leave millions of white Trump supporters much better off. This isn’t worth doing to win back their votes; it’s worth doing because it’s the right thing to do."

Taking Trump voters seriously.

Economics, Politics and Trump

Joseph Stiglitz How Trump Happened--the mistaken economic view of Trump supporters.

The Times They Are A Changin

Bob Dylan wins Nobel Prize for literature.

Bob Dylan as the new Robert Frost


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Growing Evidence That Gun Controls Work

Gun-Control Groups Push Growing Evidence That Laws Reduce Violence


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The Party of Lock Her Up

Trump shreds his rivals.


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Once Again David Brooks Misses the Point

Is idealism missing in the presidential campaign?


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No Fortune 100 CEO Supports Trump

Trump--the next big short?


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The Essence of the GOP

Paul Krugman: Predators in Arms.

Decent Republicans--Get out of this cesspool of a party while you can.


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The Lowest of the Low--Trump's US looks a lot like Russia

Trump goes low.

Putin punishes his rivals, too. Just like his protege Trump.


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Wouldn't It Be Nice?

Wishful thinking: the first hundred days.


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What Won't the GOP Tolerate?

What the GOP is willing to tolerate.


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Using Game Theory to Understand Republicans

Game theory and Trump


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I Hope We Don't Get to See Trump Impeached

From the University of Utah Law School

What About the Planet?

[I]f we’re worried about the longer-term implications of current policies, the buildup of greenhouse gases is a much bigger deal than the accumulation of low-interest debt. It’s bizarre to talk about the latter but not the former...

It’s time to end the blackout on climate change as an issue. It needs to be front and center — and questions must be accompanied by real-time fact-checking, not relegated to the limbo of he-said-she-said, because this is one of the issues where the truth often gets lost in a blizzard of lies.

There is, quite simply, no other issue this important, and letting it slide would be almost criminally irresponsible.

Link

Canada's Trudeau Steps Up on Climate Change

Oh Canada

British Columbia gives the lie to the alleged harmful impact of carbon taxes. Maybe the Northeast and the Pacific Coast can secede and join Canada in a union of rational people.

Will the Media Finally Wake Up and Call Trump Out?

Roger Cohen: Balance, Trump and Lies

Six Social Security Myths Debunked

The truth about Social Security from AARP.


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Abracadabra Economics

Simon Johnson: Trump's Magical Economic Thinking

Or less charitably: Trump's insane economic plan.

It's a Brave New World--Climate-wise

From Scientific American and Climate Central:


CO2 passes the 400ppm mark--maybe permanently.

Spurs Coach Popovich on National Anthem Protests

If it's not your daily experience, you don't understand it. I didn't talk to my kids about how to act in front of a policeman when you get stopped. I didn't have to do that. All of my black friends have done that. There's something that's wrong about that, and we all know that. What's the solution? Nobody has figured it out. But for sure, the conversation has to stay fresh, it has to stay continuous, it has to be persistent, and we all have a responsibility to make sure that happens in our communities."

Popovich discusses Kapernik anthem protest

Donald Trump Sets New Record for Lies Told During a Debate

The lies Trump told.

The Debate in a Nutshell

What we saw.

Dealing with Real Family Values

Paul Krugman--Progressive Family Values

Why Texas Schools are Failing

Living paycheck to paycheck.

Why Obama Is Right on Clean Energy

"The debate about whether the climate is changing is over. The consequences will be drastic if the United States and other countries do nothing. "

Republican EPA administrators on the Clean Air Act.

Donald Trump is a Liar--and Here's the Evidence

A Week of Whoppers from Donald Trump--NYT

And that's just last week.

Why We Should Elect Hillary

From the New York Times


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Truthiness

Paul Krugman:

PolitiFact has examined 258 Trump statements and 255 Clinton statements and classified them on a scale ranging from “True” to “Pants on Fire.” One might quibble with some of the judgments, but they’re overwhelmingly in the ballpark. And they show two candidates living in different moral universes when it comes to truth-telling. Mr. Trump had 48 Pants on Fire ratings, Mrs. Clinton just six; the G.O.P. nominee had 89 False ratings, the Democrat 27.

Are Trump and Putin Facebook pals?

Two ex-spies and Donald Trump.

Trump Claims Obama Actually a Teenage Love Child of Hillary Clinton Born in Kenya

Actually Accurate Headlines About Donald Trump's Birther Nonsense

Time for a Perp Walk

Barry Ritholtz:The Lehman Moment Is Still With Us

Are Banks Really Safer Today?

Natasha Sarin and Lawrence Summers: Have Big Banks Gotten Safer?

Parsing the New Income Data

What those Household Income Figures Really Mean (Bloomberg News)

Straight Talk on the Deficit

Alice Rivlin

Media Failure

Why are the media pro-Trump?

Trump is not a Republican Outlier

Congress is just as crazy.


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An Insightful View of the UK and the EU.

For more complete analysis, you might want to read the essays by Mervyn King and Joseph Stiglitz mention in this article. Paul Krugman has been making these same points for sometime.

The Brexit question nobody asked.

More Safe Assets Now!

The Gridlock Economy.

We Have Met the Beast and the Beast Is Us

The folly of Republican economics--Kansas finances are in the toilet.

Can a Christian Evangelical Be a Republican?

Are Christianity and the Republican Party compatible?


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How Free Should Free Speech Be?

Understanding society.

What We Know--and What We Don't

Honesty in economic policy.

Texas Music Recommendations for President Obama

From the Texas Monthly.

We Need to Borrow More and Right Now!

"Put these two facts together — big needs for public investment, and very low interest rates — and it suggests not just that we should be borrowing to invest, but that this investment might well pay for itself even in purely fiscal terms. How so? Spending more now would mean a bigger economy later, which would mean more tax revenue. This additional revenue would probably be larger than any rise in future interest payments."

Time to borrow.

Stiglitz on the Problems with Globalization

Globalization and Its New Discontents

The Psychology of Donald Trump

Watching Donald Crack.

Of Course Climate Change is a Hoax

Earth's climate records shattered.

How Trump Is an ISIS Supporter.

Thinking about terror attacks

Maybe We Should Be Denmark

The Scandinavian-American dream.


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Globalization and How to Address It

The globalization disconnect.


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The Siberian Candidate?

The baggage of Trump.



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How Do The Candidates Compare on the Budget?

Clinton vs. Trump


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Trump's Dystopian View is Wrong

The crime rate is sharply down.

Jon Stewart on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert

https://youtu.be/sjtFMWkCDz0

It's Hard to Take Dignity and Trump in the Same Title

Because he has none. The fact that he can get 40% of the vote is depressing.

Trump leads the West's flight from dignity.

The Art of the Lie

The true story of The Art of the Deal.

Donald Trump's ghost writer tells all.

Has Our Generation Met Its Responsibilities?

Mohamed El-Erian:

"Emerging from the crisis, we shifted private liabilities from banks’ balance sheets to taxpayers, including future ones, yet we failed to fix fully the bailed-out financial sector. We let inequality worsen, and stood by as too many young people...languished in joblessness, risking a scary transition from unemployment to unemployability.

In short, we didn’t do nearly enough to reinvigorate the engines of sustainable inclusive growth, thereby also weakening potential output and threatening future economic performance. And we are compounding these serial miscarriages with a grand failure to act on longer-term sustainability, particularly when it comes to the planet and social cohesion."

Unburdening the Facebook Generation

Opinions on the Shape of the Earth Differ...

Paul Krugman on the media's attempt to find balance where none exists: Both Sides Now?

People First--Corporations and Globalization Second

Proponents of globalization often use the argument that lowering trade barriers will make everyone better off. While that may possibly be true in aggregate, it is manifestly untrue with respect to individuals. Our stance should be: No expansion of globalization without dealing with the likely impacts on our citizens. In particular, international agreements should be entered into with the intent to make people better off, not corporations. The participation of corporations in forging such agreements should be strictly limited.

Here's Larry Summers with a very good analysis of how every country should go about addressing globalization.

Responsible nationalism.