Archive for June 2010
Debating nuclear power
In this TED video, Stewart Brand and Mark Jacobson debate the need for nuclear power. The over-reaction to the Three Mile Island accident in 1979 led to a near-halt of the construction of nuclear power plants in the US. Without alternative energy sources like nuclear, the US was more reliant on oil, which eventually led […]
Unfinished business (2): European banks
The latest quarterly review of the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) compares today’s European sovereign debt crisis with the 2007-2009 financial crisis. The BIS understands the European crisis as similar to the early phase of the credit crunch, in 2007. In a similar vein to the post below about US banks needing to restructure, the BIS […]
Unfinished business (1): US banks
In a perceptive “Heard on the Street” column, the Wall Street Journal notes that credit continues to contract, despite government stimulus and Federal Reserve monetary expansion. The Journal says that a more thorough restructuring is needed if the US is to avoid a Japan-style “lost decade”. Bank loans and leases have fallen by 10.5% since the […]
Democrats can’t count on Obama’s support in mid-terms
The Democrats look like they have a tough time ahead of them for the congressional mid-term elections in November. In the Sunday New York Times Magazine, Matt Bai raised the question of whether President Obama will provide leadership and support for his fellow Democrats. Bai, an astute observer, writes: Obama ran on the notion of […]
This week’s articles of note
“America’s right: the risks of “Hell no!”, The Economist “‘The time we have is growing short,'” The New York Review of Books, by Paul Volcker “Crisis analysis: views from a non-risk manager,” Risk Professional, by Michael J. Panzner “The end of men,” The Atlantic, by Hanna Rosin “The death and life of the book review,” […]
“Team America” goes to South Africa
(Hat tip: Marbury)
“Addicted” to gadgets?
There’s been much written lately about the impact of electronic gadgets on our everyday lives. First, there have been reviews and articles about Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains. Second, the New York Times ran a long feature on Monday called “Hooked on gadgets, and paying a mental price”. I […]
Exclusive: Spike Lee wants US soccer team to wear “BP Sucks” shirts vs. England
I did not attend last night’s Brooklyn Blogfest event (my invitation must have got caught in my spam filter). But my spy tells me that film director Spike Lee, the keynote presenter, took the occasion to bash the British about the Gulf oil spill. In doing so, Lee joined a growing chorus of high-profile Americans – […]
Criticism of Israel gives Washington cover to intervene more in Middle East
Leaders of the European powers were forthright in criticizing Israel’s raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla. French President Nicholas Sarkozy condemned “the disproportionate use of force,” and British Prime Minister David Cameron called the raid “completely unacceptable”. In contrast, President Obama’s response was more circumspect. A White House statement called the incident “deeply regrettable,” and Obama […]
This week’s articles of note
“Obama’s youth brigade burns out,” Daily Beast, by Dayo Olopade “The Tea Party movement isn’t racist,” The New Republic, by John B. Judis “The beholden state: how public-sector unions broke California,” City Journal, by Steven Malanga “Happy now?: what’s at stake in America’s battle over free enterprise,” National Review, by Arthur C. Brooks “The future […]
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