On the surface the Copenhagen summit was about cutting carbon emissions, but the situation reminds me of Robin Hanson’s well known countrarian notion that politics is not about policy: Civics teachers talk as if politics is about policy, that politics is our system for choosing policies to deal with common problems. But as Tyler Cowen suggests, real [...]
obama
I can’t see the merit in complaints that Obama’s Cairo speech “didn’t set out any concrete new policies.” The last thing the Israel-Palestine conflict, for example, needs, is more policy-for-the-sake-of-policy… “Look: concrete action: a new treaty!… a new accord!… a new roadmap for peace!” What Obama has done is established a background, or foundation on [...]
Richard Florida asks, “How do we move beyond the bailout economy to one that is creative, productive, and prosperous?” Let’s start from the end of my recent post about Keynes, an afterthought at the time: … my feeling right now is that the best solution would be a kind of “green bubble” that uses government funds to challenge researchers and entrepreneurs, [...]
I made this claim (here) just after the Democratic Convention, now a couple of business gurus who blog for Harvard Business Publishing are confirming it: Barack Obama is not only an exemplary political leader, but would make an exemplary business leader as well. Bill Taylor wrote today about How Barack Obama Became CEO of the USA. [...]
I’m trying to keep myself out of unproductive political commentary this week, but this column from Lorne Gunter at the National Post is so astoundingly stupid I just can’t stop myself. The criticism coming from the reactionary right reminds has degenerated into the kind of arguments I hear from people in my customer service job – merry-go-rounds of [...]
The Obama campaign never stops thinking stuff up: The most important thing you can do to help Barack Obama win this election is call supporters in crucial battleground states and let them know where to go to vote. You can make calls from your own home. We provide you with a list of voters, their phone [...]
Based on composure and general impression, Obama appeared to be out of his depth in the debate. He seemed to lack confidence and was too defensive. Of course Obama isn’t out of his depth at all — not even close – and the debate was the first time in a month that McCain hasn’t appeared to be the weaker candidate. Based [...]
