Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Scuppered

The former actor campaigning for President said, “The government is the problem.” Who needs government? We need it, that’s who. In 1980, any damned fool could look around and see that nations with strong governments succeeded while those with weak governments failed. Yet most of the people believed the damned fool when he told them […]

Adair Turner on government spending

Adair Turner, chairman of Britain’s Financial Services Authority offers his take on government policy and “spending” side of policies. From Reuters comes this comment on the speech.  I haven’t seen much coverage. Wednesday night may have marked the “emperor’s new clothes” moment of the Great Recession, in which the world suddenly realizes its rulers are […]

Water, human rights and government failure

by David Zetland Water, human rights and government failure I wrote a paper on a human right to water several years ago,* in which I made the point (using data!) that laws supporting a human right to water are unlikely to work in countries where the rule of law is weak.** But what about places […]