This week’s articles of note
“Obama’s lost year,” The New Yorker, by George Packer [abstract; full article requires subscription]
“An exceptional debate,” National Review, by Richard Lowry and Ramesh Ponnuru
“Man versus Afghanistan,” The Atlantic, by Robert D. Kaplan
“China’s economic rise is truly glorious,” Real Clear Markets, by John Tamny
“What is the ...
Why we need to talk about innovation now: the Big Potatoes manifesto
A new manifesto “thinks big” with the aim of kick-starting a debate over innovation.
In these times of financial crisis and severe economic downturn, we are constantly told by the powers that be that now is not the time ...
In defense of the dot-com bubble, ten years on
It has been ten years since the dot-com bubble burst. On March 10, 2000 the tech-dominated Nasdaq index peaked at 5048.62. Today it closed at less than half that level, at 2358.95.
Many now see the end of the tech boom as the beginning of the most recent financial crisis. On the Opinion page of the Wall Street ...
Wanted: top Illinois Democrat, no experience preferred
Democratic Party politics in Illinois – President Obama’s adopted home state – is in a bad way.
Last year governor Rod Blagojevich was ousted in a scandal, and last month the party’s nominee for lieutentant governor (the number two role) resigned due to allegations of domestic assault, unpaid child support and steroids ...
“Some bullshit happening somewhere”
Breaking News: Some Bullshit Happening Somewhere
The real scandal is this obsession with scandal
As Republicans and Democrats squabble over who is most corrupt, the American people become more cynical about the entire political class.
Read my spiked article in full here.
Piling on regulation
In an essay last year, I speculated that “today there is a possibility that the Obama regime’s call for ‘more regulation’ will just pile on to the substantial [non-financial] regulation that already exists”. Well, it seems there is an attempt to do just that.
The Financial Times reports ...
Samuel Barber centennial
(Video: Barber String Quartet, No 1, in b minor, Op11, mvt 2-3)
Today, March 9th, marks 100 years since the birth of Samuel Barber, the great American composer.
Barber’s most ...
Who says China isn’t innovative?
Writing in Fortune, Michael Elliott questions China’s record of innovation to date: “Sure, China can grow, but can its companies innovate? Can they build products that will compete in the global marketplace?”
Elliott seems to suggest that, if growth does not come from private companies, it doesn’t count as innovation:
Venture capitalists ...
Education: society doesn’t affirm adult authority
Last week I posted about the Obama administration’s support for closing schools, and Diane Ravitch’s response. Elizabeth Green’s feature in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, “Building a better teacher,” certainly provided a helpful corrective to the Bush and Obama top-down approaches, as it highlighted how much depends on the skills ...
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.
