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Archive for the ‘Economy’ Category

The Democrats’ “New Clerisy”

Joel Kotkin has a very perceptive article in The Daily Beast on the new Democratic Party coalition formed under President Barack Obama. I’ve often struggled with coming up with a term that summarizes the variety of interest groups that comprise this coalition and their outlook, and Kotkin has come up with one that may be […]

Obama and the end of great expectations

Thumbnail : Obama and the end of great expectations

Four years ago the American presidential race excited people as no election in recent memory had.  Not only would the election of Barack Obama mark the symbolic achievement of the first black president. Obama the candidate ran on an uplifting campaign promising “hope” and “change”. He would be a “transformative” president. His message energized many. […]

Goading Goldman Sachs: a new sport

Thumbnail : Goading Goldman Sachs: a new sport

Half self-promotion, half banker-bashing, there was nothing brave about Greg Smith’s resignation letter. Read my spiked article in full here.

Breaking news: Goldman Sachs is no longer a charity

Last week the New York Times published an op-ed piece by Greg Smith, a 33-year-old midlevel banker with Goldman Sachs in London, in which he explains why he is resigning from the Wall Street firm. In his view, the culture in Goldman Sachs is “toxic and destructive”, and the firm no longer acts in the […]

Greece: no rescue

The eurozone finance ministers’ €130 billion bailout package for Greece announced on Tuesday, the second in two years, will not “rescue” Greece. It makes the economic situation worse, and represents a further tightening of the European Union’s stranglehold on national sovereignty and democracy in Greece. Euro bureaucrats claimed the deal was a success. “The new […]

Volatile stock markets

American and global stock markets fell again yesterday. The US indexes declined by about 5 percent, which is pretty steep for one day. There were hopes that last week’s turmoil was an aberration, but yesterday’s falls showed that was not the case. It’s not 2008, but it’s not good either. Here are some immediate observations: The […]

The real cause of the US debt crisis? Slow growth

Thumbnail : The real cause of the US debt crisis? Slow growth

The pantomime political debate about the debt ceiling is distracting attention from the parlous state of the productive economy. Read my spiked article in full here.

Weak GDP: an economy on edge

Thumbnail : Weak GDP: an economy on edge

The latest gross domestic product (GDP) data shows the US economy’s recovery has come to a virtual stop. GDP grew at an annual rate of less than 1 percent in the first half of 2011. Revised government data show that the recession was deeper – and the recovery has been weaker – than previously thought. GDP […]

Debt ceiling talks: dysfunctional political class on display

There are two economic crises roiling the markets: the Eurozone rescue and the US debt ceiling negotiations. Although ostensibly economic in nature, both are essentially political crises as well. Of the two, it is more understandable why the European nations face difficulties: the Eurozone is a monetary union, not a fiscal or political union, and there are the […]

The “Mediscare” election: both parties are running on fear

Last week the Democrats scored an upset victory in a special election in New York’s 26th district, which encompasses the upstate territory between Buffalo and Rochester. Republicans were supposed to be on the upswing since the midterm elections held just six months ago, and the seat has been Republican since the 1960s. But Democrat Kathy […]

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