China watchers should be enjoying thinking about the questions that this news raises: Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) — China’s central bank jolted global financial markets by raising its benchmark interest rates for the first time in nine years to cool the world’s fastest-growing major economy. Will this be effective in reducing inflationary pressures in China? Will […]
The largest economic change that Bush has wrought on the US is also one of the most harmful legacies that Bush will leave this country: his creation of large budget deficits that extend into the indefinite future. And he created this fiscal disaster this through specific tax and spending decisions, not because of historical accident […]
Josh Marshall has the most thorough coverage of the story about the explosives that were looted in Iraq. Highlights: Okay, now we seem to have the White House’s third rendition of what happened at al Qaqaa. And we can find it in a nicely digestible form in this new piece from Fox News. …Down into […]
I have yet to call anyone at the Weekly Standard a liar even though on occasion, I have been quite tempted. But William Kristol’s Holbrooke: I Don’t Know the Truth is beyond the pale. His attempt to discredit the New York Times story about the missing explosives takes out of context a comment by Richard […]
The National Review is once again carrying the water for this White House and Kevin Drum takes note in META-PARODY. The theme of the Bush apologists seems to be that the troops were at fault – I guess for having such incompetent as their civilian leaders who refused to properly plan. National Review carried this […]
Long term interest rates are back below 4.0%. Is this a good thing? Not necessarily. Because low rates may simply reflect worries that the economy is slumping, largely because of the high price of oil. In fact, oil prices and long-term interest rates do indeed seem to be moving in opposite directions lately. The chart […]
Yes, we all know that one of the most important powers that the president has is to nominate people to the Supreme Court. This presidential power is then checked by the requirement of Senate confirmation. Or is it? At least temporarily, the president can make a recess appointment, which doesn’t require Senate confirmation. Now consider […]
For some reason, Salon decided to devote some space to Ralph Nader today. I don’t have much to say about the article itself, but it did bring to mind a double-take I had earlier when reading this in an WSJ story (subscription): Mr. Nadler says his group’s $1 million ad spending isn’t meant to specifically […]
Perhaps those wealthy Americans whose confidence has fallen had read this week’s Buttonwood column in The Economist: BUTTONWOOD’S cats are normally the very picture of somnolent peacefulness. Last night, however, the purrs turned into deep growls, and the growls, all of a sudden, into a whirr of fur and fury. Listen carefully and you can […]
According to Iraq’s Prime Minister, the incompetence of the US is at least partially responsible for the massacre of Iraqi army recruits over the weekend: BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq (news – web sites)’s U.S.-backed government said on Tuesday that “major neglect” by its American-led allies led to a massacre of 49 army recruits at the […]