“Were it left to me to decide whether to have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government,” Thomas Jefferson wrote to Edward Carrington in 1787, “I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” Fortunately, neither Jefferson nor his successors have been forced to decide between these core features of liberal society. …
Do you wonder what caused the deep global economic downturn, how the nation‟s best economic minds did not see it coming and why the government‟s response has been somewhat incoherent? The answer: We‟re having a “Minsky moment,” says Robert J. Barbera, author of The Cost of Capitalism, who believes the teachings of the late economist …
Continue reading “The Cost of Capitalism: We’re Having a Minsky Moment”
A United Nations conference this week in Geneva, ostensibly designed to address racism and other forms of intolerance, provides a welcome wake-up call for those who believe that all global disputes are rooted in mere misunderstanding. The reality is much different, as the results of U.S. diplomatic efforts of recent weeks have made clear. President …
Continue reading “UN’s Durban II a Disgrace, But Also a Welcome Wake-Up Call”
Policymakers in Washington have come to accept “spin” as a normal feature of the legislative process, with each side in a debate pushing a message and bending facts so they best support its case. But bending facts is one thing, breaking them is another. In some cases, one side actually ignores facts and creates a …
Continue reading “The Sad (and False) Tales of Victims of the Estate”
President Obama is about to test an important proposition – that the United States can more effectively improve even the worst global institutions by participating in them than by shunning them. In this case, the institution is the United Nations Human Rights Council, for which the Obama Administration has applied for U.S. membership, reversing a …
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao’s recent demand that Washington guarantee the safety of China’s investments in U.S. Treasury securities highlights just one problem that huge federal budget deficits present for the United States. China is now America’s largest creditor, holding about $1 trillion in securities – having lent us much of the necessary funding that …
Fascinating. I run a campaign based on “change you can believe in.” I win big at home, and hundreds of millions of people around the world seemed thrilled as well. I’m still very popular with the American people, so I should have all the political capital I need to tackle the big problems that we …