Americana
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‘Obama’s Most Interesting Pick’DUNCAN CURRIE 12/08/2008
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“Christina Romer, who has been selected to be chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisers, is something of a cipher to most non-economists. That is a pity, since she is among the most interesting and impressive of Mr. Obama’s choices. She is one of the world’s pre-eminent economic historians and her scholarship makes her particularly well-suited for advising a president during this tumultuous period,” writes Harvard economist Edward Glaeser.
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How to Boost the EconomyDUNCAN CURRIE 12/08/2008
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Economists Susan Woodward and Robert Hall examine five strategies for stimulating the economy.
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It’s What’s for DinnerDUNCAN CURRIE 12/05/2008
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The New York Times reports on how rising meat consumption around the world is making it harder to slash greenhouse gas emissions.
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Lacker on the EconomyDUNCAN CURRIE 12/05/2008
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From a speech this week by Jeffrey Lacker, president and CEO of the Richmond Fed:
“Two days ago, the National Bureau of Economic Research officially confirmed what virtually all economists already knew—namely, that a recession began last December when payroll employment peaked. For a time, the decline was fairly mild—in fact milder than the last two recessions, both of which were themselves mild by historic standards. But conditions downshifted dramatically sometime in September, just as financial market turmoil was accelerating. Since then, according to reports, many households and firms are taking a ‘wait and see’ attitude, reducing or postponing nonessential outlays in response to a general sense of uncertainty about the potential meaning of these dramatic events for their own economic circumstances. A wide array of economic indicators has deteriorated markedly since then as well.
“Looking ahead, uncertainty about the outlook is greater than usual, though probably not greater than is typical for this phase of a business slowdown. It strikes me as reasonable to expect the U.S. economy to regain positive momentum sometime in 2009, for several reasons. First, monetary policy is now quite stimulative. Second, the energy and commodity price shocks that dampened economic activity earlier this year have subsided already or are in the process of doing so. And as I’ve mentioned, the drag from housing seems likely to lessen in the next year, and in fact, I would be surprised if we don’t see a bottom in housing construction sometime in 2009. This is the third straight year, however, that I’ve been expecting a bottom in the housing market in the middle of next year, so my outlook is tempered by more than the usual amount of humility.”
Read the whole thing.
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France and Nuclear PowerDUNCAN CURRIE 12/04/2008
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From The Economist:
“Nuclear power is back in favor, thanks to fears about oil supplies, energy security and global warming. France is poised to develop its expertise into a significant export. Its president, Nicolas Sarkozy, considers the sale of nuclear power to be central to his diplomacy: it is a badge of France’s technical prowess and a reaffirmation of its status as a global industrial power. Soon after his election 18 months ago, he toured countries from China to Libya to tout France’s nuclear expertise, signing deals to open the way for French firms to sell reactors.”
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Forestry and Climate ChangeDUNCAN CURRIE 12/04/2008
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“Better management of forests is the most effective way to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide,” argues a new report from World Growth, a U.S.-based NGO. But the forestry strategy being promoted by the World Bank and Greenpeace “is severely flawed.”
The full report can be found here.
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The Meaning of MumbaiDUNCAN CURRIE 12/04/2008
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“The Mumbai terrorist attacks have opened a new chapter in the war against terrorism,” writes City Journal contributing editor Guy Sorman. “They remind us that Islamic radicalism owes more to classic Leninist thinking than to the Koran. This wasn’t some desperate move to make a statement. It was a carefully planned operation, under the command of sophisticated leadership—the group responsible had links to al-Qaida, according to many reports—in order to achieve a strategic, indeed worldwide, goal.”
Read the whole thing.
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New York State of MindDUNCAN CURRIE 12/04/2008
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Will Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James sign with the New York Knicks in 2010?
Bloomberg News reports on the collapse of Dubai’s real estate bubble.
From The Independent in Britain:
“He has been described as ‘Germany’s Obama,’ and as he campaigned to become the country’s first ethnic Turk to be elected leader of a major political party, Cem Ozdemir’s supporters coined the slogan ‘Yes We Cem!’
“Whether the Obama factor helped or not, the son of a Turkish immigrant—who describes himself as a secular Muslim not averse to the odd glass of vodka—won the leadership of the country’s Green Party this month, shattering a racial barrier that had held sway in post-war Germany for decades.”
From an Inter-American Development Bank press release:
“People in countries that have experienced fast economic growth in recent years are less satisfied with their lives than people in nations with slower growth rates, according to a new study by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)….
“Satisfaction in Trinidad and Tobago, Chile, Peru and Ecuador, countries with the fastest growth in the region in recent years, is lower than in nations such as Guyana, El Salvador, Paraguay and Guatemala, whose economies showed little or no growth….
“Satisfaction rates are not necessarily highest in the wealthiest countries or in those with the best social services or the fastest growth. Countries in the region with high per capita income, such as Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay showed moderate levels of life satisfaction, trailing countries with lower per capita income such as Guatemala, Colombia and Jamaica.
“‘Overall, Latin Americans are satisfied with their lives, but interestingly, people in some of the poorest countries are the most optimistic while citizens of some of the most-developed countries are the most pessimistic,’ said IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno. ‘Not surprisingly, people with higher incomes are more satisfied with their lives than those with lower incomes, but economic growth actually breeds discontent rather than greater happiness, at least in the short run.’”
From a speech last week by Charles Evans, president and CEO of the Chicago Fed:
“The U.S. economy continues to face many challenges. The Fed has been proactive in addressing market liquidity stress during the financial crisis—first by using our monetary policy tools and later through our improvised lending facilities in response to financial markets. Moving forward, it is important that we be vigilant in monitoring the risks to growth, as well as any risks to the prospects for obtaining price stability. It is also important for us to continue to collaborate with global policymakers in the pursuit of financial stability worldwide. We likely are in for a protracted period of poor economic performance. But the policy actions taken by the Fed and other governmental agencies over the course of the financial crisis, and the effort of the private sector to work through their difficulties, will eventually help support a recovery in economic growth.”
Read the whole thing.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce responds to organized labor.
Eric Neel of ESPN.com and ESPN the Magazine tells the dramatic story of the 1958 University of Buffalo football team.
“The country faces three major economic problems: (1) making liquid the troubled housing debt that is clogging up the books; (2) stabilizing home prices; and (3) improving household cash flow. Each can be more easily achieved by rewarding virtue than by continuing down the current path,” argues former Bush economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey, a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
“The financial crisis of 2008 has prompted many commentators to claim that we are about to enter another Great Depression. Yes, we are entering a serious slump—one that will probably last until late 2009 or early 2010. That said, the current slump is not (and will not be) comparable to the Great Depression of 1929-1933. Before they manufacture a greater crisis, the chattering classes should stop scaring the public and check the facts,” says Johns Hopkins University economist Steve Hanke.
The Chinese government “has aimed to create a more ‘harmonious society’ by balancing the economic growth drive with concern for the environment, and measures to narrow China’s wealth gap,” writes Rowan Callick of The Australian.
“But now that strategy is in danger of being laid to one side as a result of the global slowdown, with the imperative for growth alone surviving. Growth is seen as the ruling communist party’s crucial source of legitimacy.
“It will be intriguing to see what impact this may have on China’s shift towards improved corporate governance, which had rapidly become a surprisingly important element in its business landscape.”
“While [Barack Obama’s] popular vote and Electoral College victories were decisive, there are indications that the electoral polarization we have seen in the Bush years persists,” notes RealClearPolitics blogger Jay Cost.
How will the recession affect the world of professional golf?
“Republicans are supposedly the ones who promote ‘Reverse Robin Hood’ policies—help the rich at the expense of the poor. Robin Hood is supposedly a prototypical member of the Democratic Party. So far neither party has done a whole lot to earn their reputations,” argues University of Chicago economist Casey Mulligan.
“In a global economy, a federal bailout of the automotive industry could cost Americans jobs as well as foreign markets to trade in,” writes Dartmouth economist Matthew Slaughter.
New York Times sportswriter Pete Thamel introduces us to Myron Rolle, a Florida State University football star and finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship.
U.S. News & World Report business correspondent Rick Newman explains how the big automakers became “the scourge of their fellow Americans.”
“Nearly 20 years ago, Eddie Sutton resigned as Kentucky coach after a package sent from assistant Dwane Casey to the father of recruit Chris Mills opened in transit, spilling $1,000 for all to see,” writes Dana O’Neil of ESPN.com.
“Pardon some coaches if they wax nostalgic for the days gone by, when rule breaking was clear-cut and obvious.
“Sure, rules still are being flat-out broken the old-fashioned way, but the new wave sweeping the game is rule circumvention, not rule breaking. Clever coaches are employing a strong grip on semantics to expose loopholes and reinterpret rules to their benefit.
“Like the evolution from Chuck Taylors to Air Jordans, the art of cheating has been refined and streamlined.”