To govern or not to govern

Comment on: AIG, an insurance giant, is bailed-out by America's government | A lifeline for AIG | The Economist at 9/17/2008 9:03 AM EDT

Let's not slide half-truths into the news. The American people may bear the costs of this bailout, but it's hardly the government that is responsible. The Fed is a quasi-governmental institution. And I still can't ID a meaningful decision by the Treasury since 1913. Don't they chase after counterfeiters (i.e. protecting the Fed's monopoly)?

It's telling that Senate Banking Committee's Chairman, Christopher Dodd, has complained about being left out of the loop... or that McCain and others near-totalitarians choose to preach free market so long as the decisions remain clearly outside the control of government.

As an INTP, I realize that I'm naturally more precise with language than 99% of Americans. Yet there is reason to be careful with words that travel widely.

The dollar on the margins

Comment on: American finance | Still bleeding | Economist.com at 8/21/2008 10:10 AM EDT

Lehman Brothers is a full-service investment bank in the same way Arthur Andersen was a full-service accounting firm before we discovered Enron. As sacred keepers of the money, people at companies like this have every reason to be reckless. For example, well-connected college interns made over 25,000 USD per week this summer as 'consultants' for Lehman. Would you risk being seen giving undergraduate sophomores bribe-like compensation?

I'm not one to say whether decisions like this hurt or helped their bottom line, but it indicates just how much less marginal value the dollar has for players like Fannie, Freddie and Lehman than it does for those outside the investment class. Perhaps more importantly, it illustrates how power over cheap money can cloud one's judgment. Recent losses may spur on some cosmetic changes at big-name corporations, but let's not expect anything less than restructuring at the Fed & US Treasury to save the financial system.

My two cents -- Bring back the Greenback!

Method to our madness

Comment on: Counter-terrorism | Taking on terrorists | Economist.com at 8/16/2008 2:28 PM EDT

Let's all step into our adult shoes for a moment and consider that the current generation of anti-terror does less to prevent violence against the innocent than it does to redefine terrorism. As long as rag-tag groups from the global underclass are pursued for playing rough, we can ignore similar crimes on the part of more organized terrorists who can buy their way into lawful society. Nothing new or hidden here, just ask Noam Chomsky.

In the long view, societies possessing intellect and power have always needed to distract themselves from their hypocrisy. Globalization masks the horror of slavery, but we still have foreign policy to feel guilty about. We may think of Orwell's doublethink as something imposed by an oppressive state, but it's our childlike need for soothing that motivates us to develop such delusions.

Perhaps in this light we can understand why investigation and diplomacy are not preferred - treating your enemy as fully human only opens one's self to the same scrutiny.

How to export the sick

Comment on: Globalisation and health care | Operating profit | Economist.com at 8/16/2008 10:58 AM EDT

Despite the irreversible consumption associated with air travel, this trend is a positive for me - with so many prices and artificial price barriers around our world, people need to take an active stance against price discrimination as financial self-defense.

As in so many arenas, the debate over insurance in America has been sorely lacking long-term perspective. American's don't have universal insurance today because of government wage freezes imposed on the Greatest Generation. Do we really think such an arbitrary wartime policy should determine national values today?

I've been going to Bangkok's Bumrungrad for years because of absurd prices and quality at home, but I'm not quite the average American. Unlike many educated professionals, I don't haven't had employer-provided insurance for all those years. I pay for much cheaper global insurance, which avoids much coverage in the United States.

Now that I am back in the United States, I live in one of New York City's medical centers. It's a tough business to understand, but what's clear is that few inside the industry have sufficient reason to give patients lower prices.

FYI ~ Vietnam has excellent dental services and some alternative therapies available at a great discount. And if you work in Japan, their socialized system is very user-friendly for the minor illnesses (but head for continental Asia for the major stuff).

Tech, guns, & butter

Comment on: Gun ownership | Is that a small arm in your pocket? | Economist.com at 4/30/2008 10:41 AM EDT

Interesting that the United States has the most civilian guns, as I was under the impression that Canadians are much more likely to own a gun. Is the gap explained more by the number of Americans or the number of guns the American gun-lover owns?

Comment on: America's food crisis | Democracy in America | Economist.com at 4/25/2008 11:21 AM EDT

Thank you for linking to these articles, especially since their hosts don't allow comments My two cents: it doesn't benefit a country to be the richest if it is also on a path to be the most unequal. For a look at the other side of price instability, read about the recent surge of upscale survivalism here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/fashion/06survival.html

Comment on: Semantic video analysis | Finding the right picture | Economist.com at 4/22/2008 4:54 PM EDT

Technology Monitor seems presumptuous in making claims as to the applications and objectives of this research. Where is the analysis on funding for semantic computing? There is some evidence suggesting defense and intelligence organizations are silently writing many of the checks. Do grant givers want nothing more than to fulfill Dr Izquierdo's dream of making the internet 'more useful'?

"Seeing the second world war as a pure struggle to defeat an evil dictator has led us into foreign policy traps ever since"

Comment on: The last excuse for the Iraq war is founded on a myth | Comment is free | Guardian.co.uk at 4/25/2008 9:35 AM EST

Somewhat touchy here in the comments thread, but kudos to Mr. Wilby. I hope that his point isn't forgotten. As parents and teachers, we need to stop another generation from coming into adulthood with fantasies of Hitler's evil.

On the record

Comment on: Does America have a budget problem? | Free exchange | Economist.com at 2/4/2008 11:37 PM EST

Although I'm in favor of reducing the economic servitude of future generations, it's unclear what reversing our defense and health spending strategies will do to jobs and social stability. Can we reinvent ourselves and save capitalism before the dollar sinks the global economy? I for one would love to see engagement on this issue lead to and end to the culture of economic 'progress'. If only American voters weren't still overwhelmingly in favor of growth over sustainability...

Comment on: Early retirement no more | Free exchange | Economist.com at 4/1/2008 5:20 PM EDT

I've been lucky enough to secure 35hr a week jobs most of my working life, and I still feel like Jason. The stress on increasing market productivity per person in our society highlights the lack of concern for individual work/leisure preferences. Given more freedom, the individuals themselves would be best positioned to maximize both productivity and the consumption of its fruits.


Comment on: The case for homeowner assistance | Free exchange | Economist.com at 4/2/2008 3:23 PM EDT

Why do so many good economists fall victim to this debate? Interventionists offer only post-dated justifications for politically motivated bailouts - not whom I would visit for an unbiased opinion. Meanwhile, free marketers never fail to get drawn into barely relevant theories, forgetting how artificial the market conditions have already become.


Comment on: Business in Japan | Silent spring | Economist.com at 4/2/2008 3:59 PM EDT

With the very same fascist power brokers in place after as before WWII, surely the cowardice of the US Occupation shares some of the blame for Japanese labor's weak negotiating position.

Very sad to read about the working poor anywhere, but especially so in Japan, where even unskilled part-time workers in Japan are courteous, helpful, and diligent at their jobs. This trait, which so endears the Japanese to me, comes from the one perk still due the average Japanese worker: respect.

I, for one, hope that many young Japanese take the opportunity to emigrate while the yen is strong. They have an enormous contribution to make to global culture.


Comment on: The political cost of inflation | Economist.com at 4/4/2008 12:44 PM EDT

We should note that Vietnamese workers are showing signs of unrest despite being under the thumb of a controlling, one-party government. There is indeed a political cost to be paid for double-digit inflation, but let's not forget that individuals are paying the real costs of inflation around the world.

At least the common man can begin to appreciate the growing income gap under a high inflation regime. Rising prices can have almost zero political cost, so long as you put the frog in the pot before you start boiling.


Comment on: Granary of last resort | Free exchange | Economist.com at 4/7/2008 4:08 PM EDT

Central control is most certainly not needed... of course. Food prices are taking their cue from long-term trends in demand, climate, and oil reserves. Stopping the rise in food prices would send the wrong signal to a world that needs to seriously rethink the way it feeds itself.

Sadly, the link between stability and central control is so ingrained that even educated writers for the Economist can't be blamed for offering the institutional solution. Considering how the regional authorities with control over food exports have worsened the situation already, it hardly seems cautious to put even more power in the hands of a central authority.

For further reading on the future of food, I suggest The Community Solution: http://www.communitysolution.org/


Comment on: Good behaviour, bad behaviour, and the environmental impact of smiley faces | Free exchange | Economist.com at 4/7/2008 4:30 PM EDT

Note that we're just talking about a small study, and not a well-funded behavior changing initiative. Commenter, Ian Gordon is correct to point out the pro-consumerist bias in our social fabric. Perhaps the greater good would be better served by removing behavioral psychology from the corporate advertiser's toolbox.


Comment on: Tibet and the Olympics | A flaming row | Economist.com at 4/9/2008 12:34 PM EDT

What most of the world is forgetting is that the protests are sure to provoke the communist party leadership into a strong reaction. Tibetans may hope that reaction will be conciliatory, and are justified in seeking it. However, as ex-party chief of the Tibet Autonomous Region, Hu Jintao faces enormous personal pressure to silence the issue and it's equally likely that he will favor a brutal approach. Just about the only factor that is clear is that the Tibetan cause has found a niche in global consciousness, the last visible victims of colonialism. One can only hope that in our criticism of China over Tibet, we can come to understand, criticize, and amend for our own sins.


Comment on: Asia.view | Does Asia exist? | Economist.com at 4/9/2008 1:03 PM EDT

Asia certainly is defining itself as a region for the first time. What's interesting is how imported ideas amongst the ruling classes may be the cause of these economic and political integrations.

On the one hand, Asian leaders seem to be protecting their nations from being consumed in a global power struggle. On the other, they may simply be propagating systems of control that have limited cultural progress in the west.


Comment on: The Democrats | Obama and Clinton battle on | Economist.com at 4/17/2008 3:51 PM EDT

The staging of this debate tells us much more about the candidates than they can risk saying directly. Obama walked into a media ambush. The critical thinker only need decide if the media represents their own interests or those of opposing forces.

Note to COACHCRAIG: if the economy was only dependent on the president's last name, this publication would be significantly shorter and no one would read it.


Comment on: Contempt for the poor | Free exchange | Economist.com at 4/21/2008 4:48 PM EDT

It's amazing how much life certain economic models get from their political expedience. The popular fiction of the Phillips curve often serves to remind us that attempts to question systemic inflation will not be tolerated. As is only human nature, public reasoning rarely precedes private decision making.

The median annual income in the United States is less than 40,000 USD. The median family has next to zero equity. Yet Wolfgang Münchau has hit on something in his statement on inflation ("Higher inflation is the transfer of wealth from the poor to the middle classes.") - the winners in the middle and upper classes are in the minority, far above median levels of income and wealth. Of inflation's effect on the relative poor the Fed may not be ignorant, but in choosing to benefit a small but well-connected minority they most certainly are insensitive.