The events at the capitol today are horrifying, and to many of us seem like the natural outcome of Trumpism and the morally degenerate enabling of the Republican party. But the events today may well end up strengthening our democracy. I suspect that Trump has badly overplayed his hand. The images of thugs running loose […]
Thoughts on the Invasion of the US Capitol It’s all happening as I write, but here are a few reactions: 1. Fortunately we see Q-Anonics, Loud Boys and other right wing crazies invading the Capitol Building and not Black Lives Matter or the Left. Think how many lives would have been lost if it had […]
— One of Sandwichman’s good questions prompted my revisiting an earlier writing of mine on wealth (circa 2000?). Extensively revised to the extent that it is hardly recognizable; here is, a, second, best effort. Herein, the terms wealth and capital are thought of as being interchangeable. For thousands of years, humans lived off the bounty […]
The wins in Georgia are huge. Now, if Alabama, Mississippi, and South Carolina can just come up with their own Stacy Abrams, we could see a snowball effect that would change American politics forever. Well, at least, for a long time. Some might think that this outcome along with its portents can solve the electoral […]
Zooming in on the Defects of PowerPoint I’ve just finished several days of staring, hour after hour, at the year’s economics meetings via Zoom. What really struck me, beyond the content of the talks, was the way Zoom exacerbates “death by bullet point”. PowerPoint’s capabilities encourage speakers to load up their slides with lots of text and […]
The End Of The Embargo Against Qatar Yesterday Saudi Arabia announced that it is ending the embargo/boycott of Qatar, and though reportedly the UAE leadership is not entirely happy with this, they are going along with this as are the other nations involved in this, Bahrain and Egypt. This had begun in June 2017, reportedly […]
Meet Brad Raffensperger. Take a moment and listen to all three clips. The first is at Crooks and Liars. In an interview with 11Alive reporter Brendan Keefe, the reporter asked Raffensperger directly: “If the president hadn’t tweeted, and tweeted something that was false, would we have ever heard that call recording?” Brad: “No, it was […]
I am not sure what AB Commenters and readers see on TV, in the news, or on the blogosphere. The news I am reading is surreal. I keep hoping we wakeup from this nightmare and things are normal again. Then too, what is normal? One more event date to experience past January 6th, the inauguration. […]
November construction spending confirms building surge One of my consistent themes in the past few months has been how the housing market is priming the economy for strong growth in 2021 as soon as the pandemic is brought under control. In that vein, November construction spending surged, confirming what we have already been seeing in housing […]