Italy’s famous instability in government has been caused, in no small part, by the multiplicity of political parties competing for seats in the Parliament, as well as a Constitution that by design gives parties proportional representation based on their votes.… Continue Reading
If anything Lester Thurow wrote about in today’s Fish Wrapper makes the remotest bit of sense to you, please leave a comment here and clue me in. In a nutshell, he seems to be proposing three policy concepts to address… Continue Reading
I’ve tried to not get drawn in to lengthy arguments on the Internets. You rarely convince anyone of anything that they didn’t already agree with you on. What I look for, though, are well-argued positions and every once in a… Continue Reading
This is interesting. I would have guessed that young people in Iran would use the internet to communicate in ways that are more free than their government would prefer. But I wouldn’t have suspected that Iran was one of the… Continue Reading
Diplomacy sometimes works. It did in South America. Which is good — we need both the oil to flow and our client-state in Columbia to remain viable. War would not have been in the best interests of any of the… Continue Reading
Admit it. You weren’t paying any attention at all to South America. Well, maybe you’d better start, because a three-way shooting war looks like it’s about to get started there. Here’s the deal. Columbia’s President, Juan Uribe, is considered a… Continue Reading
There’s no doubt that Republicans are looking weak on the economy, and the economy is turning into a more important issue in the election than the war. Larry Kudlow convincingly argues that a strong dollar should be a centerpiece of… Continue Reading
Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have unleashed anti-NAFTA rhetoric in their battle for votes in Ohio. Apparently, union workers in Ohio still feel threatened by NAFTA and this is a good way to rally those voters to your banner… Continue Reading
Kosovo is set to declare its independence tomorrow. This can only end well. No, no possibility of bad feelings on anyone’s part. After all, an independent Kosovo has been the lynchpin of southeastern European stability ever since the Ottomans overran… Continue Reading
It’s a measure of the relative economic strengths of a country as to which nation’s currency enjoys wider acceptance. This makes it very disturbing to see that stores and restaraunts in New York City have begun accepting payment in Euros.… Continue Reading