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Category Archive: Geostrategy
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The Public Option’s Last Stand, and the Public’s
I would have preferred a single payer system like Medicare, but became convinced earlier this year that a public, Medicare-like optional plan was just about as much as was politically possible. Now the White House is stepping back even from the public option, with the President saying it’s “not the entirety of health care reform,” [...]
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Beginning of the End of the Republic’s Solvency. Soon Come the First Steps to a Reformed Regime – or a New Regime.
From a joint statement by the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees, March 2009 The drawdown of Social Security and HI Trust Fund reserves and the general revenue transfers into SMI will result in mounting pressure on the Federal budget. In fact, pressure is already evident. For the third consecutive year, a “Medicare funding [...]
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Impressive Piece of Work
I am ordinarily gloomy about the public policy process in India. But for a welcome change, the quality of staff work in the draft direct tax code, which has been put out for discussion, is outstanding. Originally published at Ajay Shah’s blog and reproduced here with the author’s permission.
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China Rising, Rent-Seeking Version
The usual concern about the US-China balance of economic and political power is couched in terms of our relative international payments positions. We’ve run a large current account deficit in recent years (imports above exports); they still have – by some measures – the largest current account surplus (exports above imports) even seen in a major [...]
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What Should have been Discussed During the SED Meetings (Part 2)
In my last entry I tried to set out the necessary shifts over the next few years as the world, and especially China and the US, works out its imbalances. These shifts will take place, I am pretty sure, but they can do so under a “good” scenario and a “bad” scenario. So what does [...]
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USA, Argentina and Alan Beattie: Wrong Starting Point
I was intrigued by the early announcements of Alan Beattie’s book ‘False Economy: A Surprising Economic History of the World.’ So I read with interest his shorter piece summarizing the opening chapter of the book that presents his interpretation of the history of USA and Argentina (“Argentina: The superpower that never was” May 23 2009, [...]
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The Green Shoots that are Healthy don’t Taste Good to many Administration Officials
As we approach two and a half years of financial crisis and recession, one has to at least begin to inquire why the dynamics continue and what the Administration plans to do about them. So far, the answer seems to be “subsidize the financial services industry” and stage a “reorganization.” But subsidies keep the same [...]
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A Putt Made, a Putt Missed
At “A Dash” we often find that examples from the world of sports can help investors understand crucial concepts. One such concept, abstract and elusive, is “the counterfactual situation.” This describes what would have happened if a specific event or decision had not taken place. Take the recent British Open golf championship as an example. [...]
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What Do the People Want?
To the New York Times’s credit, they asked them. And this is what they found (from the beginning of the article, entitled “New Poll Finds Growing Unease on Health Plan”): President Obama’s ability to shape the debate on health care appears to be eroding as opponents aggressively portray his overhaul plan as a government takeover [...]
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How the White House’s Deal With Big Pharma Undermines Democracy
I’m a strong supporter of universal health insurance, and a fan of the Obama administration. But I’m appalled by the deal the White House has made with the pharmaceutical industry’s lobbying arm to buy their support. Last week, after being reported in the Los Angeles Times, the White House confirmed it has promised Big Pharma [...]
