You know, Obama did not get into the White House for nothing. The US blockade of Cuba is one of the most truculent, cruel and ineffective policies of the last 50 years and now Obama is headed toward changing it. The idea that Cuba is poor because of its economic system is undermined [...]
Columbine Killings and hating ‘the system’
Mass murder and the American Dream. It turns out that a lot of what was said in the media about the Columbine shootings was simply wrong according to this story by Andrew Gumble in the Guardian. It turns out that the killers were not resentful nerds out to punish jocks, their aim was [...]
The beginning stages of a new global reserve currency?
One of the key outcomes of the London G20 summit - perhaps even more important than Michelle Obama’s hug for the Queen - was the allowance for the IMF to allocate $250 billion worth of Special Drawing Rights. This could be the basis of a future global reserve currency outside the sovereign control of [...]
What would an IMF program for America look like?
Simon Johnson, a former economist at the International Monetary Fund, argues that Wall Street holds the Western and particularly American political class captive. If this were in the so called Third World, the IMF would know exactly how to break up this cozy relationship. In other words, how would an American structural adjustment [...]
The Chinese Dollar Trap
The Chinese call for the creation of a new global reserve currency is a sign of weakness and not strength - according to the man with the op-ed momentum: Paul Krugman (link)
By the way, does anyone know what Samir Amin of ‘delinking’ fame is writing about the present crisis? I have not read much [...]
George Bush and Superman: Naked and Powerless?
Powerful people are not powerful: they are fumblers and jivers as we used to call them back in the day. I say this after two events: George Bush’s antics during the G8 and the latest Superman movie.
Consider this slice of the off-the-cuff conversation between Bush and Blair in Russia:
Bush: I think Condi [US Secretary [...]