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.

It Could Only Happen Here--Kansas and Wisconsin the Two Worst Governed States in the US

Primo Encarnation at Juanita Jean's "The World's Most Dangerous Beauty Shop:"

Welcome to Unintended Consequences T’eater. I am your host, Primo’s Uncle Jimmy “Barstool” Grobnik.   In tonight’s episode, we’re lookin’ at da unintended consequences of da RNC, – dat’s da Republican National Committee – what dey did dat screwed demselfs and ended up wit’ Donald Trump.

So dere’s dese two guys, right? Da Brudders Koch, which is pronounced like da drink, not like anyt’ing in yer pants, like “crotch” or anyt’ing, down ‘ere. Or Cook, which I never unnerstood how K-O-C-H could soun’ like…

[Uncle Jimmy! ]

Barstool: Right, sorry dere, Primo. So da Koch Brudders, dey wanna run da world so dat dere oil comp’ny makes money forever. So dey put summa dere money in different places so as to influence as broad a spectrum… seriously?

[Just read the script, Uncle Jimmy.]

Barstool: Ah, hell! Just lemme tell it my way. So dere’s dese two a-holes dumpin’ money in every conservative purse dey can find in order to have more clout wit’ every’ting.   An dey especially are lookin’ for some kinda front man so dey can run him for President and really start to take over da joint. In our first scene, dey make dere plans. Hey, PETE! Come ‘ere once.

Pete: Whaddya want?

Barstool: Here, read dis.

Pete(reading): “Script for Unintended Consequences T’eater, Episode 1.”

Barstool: Not dat part, furder down, where my finger is. You be Charles. Right dere, read dat.

Pete(reading): “David, we must protect our fodder’s legacy and da Koch name…” are you kiddin’ me?

Barstool: Primo wrote it, we just gotta read it. Plus it’s “da Coke name” not “da Cotch name.”

Pete: Yeah, fine, but who talks dis way?

Barstool: I dunno. Primo wrote it.

[Guys, maybe we skip to scene two. You be Walker and you be Ryan.]

Barstool: How come we got two jailed ex-Illinois Governors innis?

[They’re not those guys.]

Barstool: Says right here: “Governor Walker.”

[That’s Scott Walker.]

Barstool: I t’ought his name was Dan.

[No, Uncle Jimmy, Dan Walker is dead. This is Scott Walker, Governor of Wisconsin.]

Pete: Dan Walker died? When?

Barstool: Wisconsin?! You want me to play some cheesehead governor?

[Walker died last year. Uncle Jim, you can play Paul Ryan if you want.]

Pete: Is he dead?

Barstool: Nah, he’s in jail.

[No, that’s GEORGE Ryan and he is NOT dead and he is NO LONGER in jail.]

Barstool: So where is Paul Ryan from?

[He’s the Speaker of the House and he’s from Wisconsin.]

Barstool: You want me to play a cheesehead CONGRESSMAN?

Pete: I’m readin’ ahead, here. Who is Rains… Prius? Pry-bus?

[That’s Reince Priebus. He’s the head of the RNC.]

Barstool: Where’s he from?

[That’s not important, look…]

Pete: Wisconsin?

[Well…]

Barstool: Ah, crap Primo, dontcha have nobody who’s NOT from Wisconsin?

Pete: How ‘bout dem Cotch Brudders?

[Coke! Look, here’s the deal: the plan was to make Scott Walker the President, and Reince Priebus’ only job was to set all that up to make it happen. He moved the primaries around, moved the convention up, and laid all the groundwork for Walker to run.  He was the front-runner, but then a jillion guys jumped in the race and Donald Trump went gonzo and with a solid third of the GOP vote – the most redneck, illiterate, fascist, racist, misogynist cranks ever to punch a chad – Trump built up an early and, as it turns out, insurmountable, lead in the polls. With no money, no traction and an idiot with a chain gun for a mouth galumphing across the debate stages, Walker bailed before even the first vote was cast.]

Pete: So all da moves da GOP did to avoidda problems of 2012 and all da moves da Kochs did to have all dem Badgers runnin’ da place had da unintended consequences of making Trump da nominee?

Barstool: Hence da T’eater name!

[Exactly! Now, can we do this?]

Barstool: WhatforHowcome? You just did. (reading) “Dis completes our Inarguable Presentation of Unintended Consequences T’eater…”

[“Inaugural”]

Pete: What’s dat mean?

Barstool: It means it’s da first one.

Pete: DERE’S GONNA BE MORE?

Addressing Economic Discontent.

Joseph Stiglitz: "....politics should now be directed at understanding how, in a democracy, the political establishment could have done so little to address the concerns of so many citizens."

Primarily about Brexit, but with lessons for the US:

From Brexit to the Future

Hillary should seize on the current discontent in the middle class by declaring that there will be no more trade agreements unless they identify and address the impact on ordinary people. Trade agreements have to stop benefiting only corporations and the 1%. 

More on the Trump Scam

"If we want to be a middle-class nation, we need policies that give service-sector workers the essentials of a middle-class life. This means guaranteed health insurance — Obamacare brought insurance to 20 million Americans, but Republicans want to repeal it and also take Medicare away from millions. It means the right of workers to organize and bargain for better wages — which all Republicans oppose. It means adequate support in retirement from Social Security — which Democrats want to expand, but Republicans want to cut and privatize."

Paul Krugman on Trump and Labor.

Song for this Fourth

Paul Simon--An American Tune.

The Academic View of Brexit