Tea Party: maybe crazy, definitely winning
In her Sunday New York Times column on the debt ceiling business, Maureen Dowd points out the many ways in which the Tea Party is succeeding:
Consider what the towel-snapping Tea Party crazies have already accomplished. They’ve changed the entire discussion. They’ve neutralized the White House. They’ve whipped their leadership into ...
This week’s articles of note
“An un-American response to the Oslo attack,” Salon, by Glenn Greenwald
“Behind economic hard times, fear of the new,” Washington Post, by Robert Samuelson
“Stinger: James O’Keefe’s greatest hits,” New York Times Magazine, by Zev Chafets
“When patents attack,” NPR: This American Life, by Alex Blumberg and Laura Sydell
Where the debt comes from
As Congress dithers over extending the debt ceiling, the New York Times has published a useful chart that indicates when the current $14.3 trillion debt originated, as well as who holds the debt.
The chart shows that $6.1 trillion of the total, or about 43 percent, resulted from actions during the George W. Bush ...
Debt ceiling debate: bad political theatre
Even more than the Eurozone crisis, the debt discussion in the US shines a harsh light on the dysfunctional nature of the modern political class.
Read my spiked article in full here.
This week’s articles of note
“What if the government defaults?” Slate, by Simon Johnson
“Mastering the machine: how Ray Dalio built the world’s richest and strangest hedge fund,” The New Yorker, by John Cassidy
“Why America’s young and restless will abandon cities for suburbs,” Fortune, by Joel Kotkin
“The world is not overpopulated,” Real ...
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 ...
The New York Times and Murdoch
Day by day, another shoe drops in the story from Britain concerning the phone-hacking scandal and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. The latest news is that the head of Scotland Yard has resigned, and former News of ...
Back to posting
Sorry for the hiatus. The day job and moving house have got in the way. Service is resumed.
This week’s articles of note
“Why Europe no longer matters,” Washington Post, by Richard N. Haass
“The online looking-glass,” The New York Times, by Ross Douthat [on Weiner]
“Barack Obama: unity president or great divider?” Fortune, by Nina Easton
“Death of the duopoly,” Wall Street Journal, by Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch
“Why not ...
Sympathy for the devil (LeBron)
Congratulations to the Dallas Mavericks for winning the National Basketball Association finals last night. It was a riveting series, nearly every game a close one.
This morning I woke to hear all the sports pundits saying that ...
ABOUT SEAN COLLINS
I write about American current affairs for Spiked, the online magazine. I am a native New Yorker, and I divide my time between New York City and upstate New York.
In addition to articles for Spiked, The Australian and other publications, I contributed an essay, "BDS: Demonizing Israel, Destroying Free Speech," for the book Unsafe Space: The Crisis of Free Speech on Campus (2016). I also wrote a chapter on New York City's economy for the book London After Recession: A Fictitious Capital? (2012).
My writings have been cited in American Conservative, Arts & Letters Daily, the Financial Times, Fox News, the Huffington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, the New York Times, Real Clear Politics, and the Times of London, among other media.
For more about The American Situation site, go here.
