It was negotiating with Ho Chi Minh to prolong the war in Vietnam in 1968. It was keeping Americans hostage in Iran in 1980. It was ending work visas for farm workers. It was implementing visas for EU citizens to travel to the United States. They allowed money laundering from the Gulf States to flow …
Yearly Archives: 2025
Ricardo is still relevant
This old article popped to the top of my results when looking for a summary of Ricardo’s trade theory, so I have to comment on why Ricardo was right. 200 Years of Ricardian Trade Theory: How Is This Still A Thing? If this article was right, Brexit would have had a negative or beneficial impact to …
Afghanistan was the lynchpin
In 2001 bin Laden bit the hand which likely fed him and attacked the United States. Afghanistan had undergone over 20 years of war already, starting with the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, followed by a brutal civil war which the Taliban won in 1994. They then decided to attack the United States only 7 years …
Bipartisan consensus
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-tiktok-ban-bill/ The last chapter in Howard Zinn’s book A People’s History of the United States is called “Bipartisan Consensus” and is mostly him talking about the Clinton administration’s privatization of Conrail, deregulation of banks, and other right-wing policies. In the last 250 years of American history, a New Democrat has won a majority of the …
Ceasefire deal overview
The ceasefire is pretty simple when you get down to it. Hamas will release all hostages. Israel will release most hostages. Israel ends its blockade on Gaza. Hamas will not rebuild its military abilities. That’s pretty much it. It does not solve the fundamental problems that underlie the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These problems are: Giving Palestinians …
Gaza Hostage Crisis Resolution
Almost titled this Iranian Hostage Crisis 2024 edition. The stages of this event are: Yay! The war can end and there can finally be elections in Israel and Palestine. Nothing good was ever going to come from this war. Hold on… the timing of this is very similar to the Iranian Hostage Crisis in 1980-1981… …
A Message from the New Democrats
A conversation with the New Democrats. To all the people who have lost their homes in California, we are sorry fires keep breaking out on federal land. We have not restored the Forest Service budget since 2017. But you must understand, as part of our master strategy, we need to compromise with the Republicans to …
Trump’s keys
Trump will be reinaugurated in 9 days, and there are already telling signs of what the Republican nominee’s keys might look like in 2028. It is unlikely Republicans will have a lot of keys in 2028, no matter who is on the ballot. Year Party mandate No primary contest Incumbent seeking re-election No third …
Biden’s legacy
In 10 days Biden’s legacy will be cemented and Donald Trump will again be President of the United States. Trump will in his second term be the same as he was in his first, mostly ineffective, but bent on the goal of dismantling every piece of progress from his predecessor’s administration. Legislative achievements, Domestic policy …
It doesn’t really matter if its causation
Sure… there may be a clear correlation between people who throw their money solely into annuities and bonds going bankrupt, but are we sure it is causal? Sure… GDP per capita, long life expectancy, democracy, low corruption, and high press freedom are highly correlated, but how do you know it is causal? Sure… vaccinated people …
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