President Obama has embarked on an important trip abroad, with stops in Saudi Arabia, Germany, France and Egypt. The highlight of the trip is expected to be his speech in Egypt, which the White House is promoting as an address to the Muslim world. The speech has raised expectations and there is no shortage of […]
The New York Times today provides an excellent analysis of China’s growing role as an economic powerhouse, both regionally and globally. As the first of a series dealing with China’s rise and the geostrategic implications, Michael Wines writes a compelling piece discussing the prowess of 3 Chinese companies aiming to take a hold on $22 […]
You’re probably way ahead of me and know all about this little blockbuster 20-minute video, but in case you don’t, it’s fabulous and well worth the visit. You may have any number of quibbles, big and small, with some of what’s being said, but it is definitely lucid, well-argued, and smart. I’ve touched on some […]
Obama travels to the Middle East, and Osama releases a new audio message. Indeed, this is no coincidence.
While all of the BRICs – Brazil, Russia, India and China – have increased their holdings of foreign exchange reserves since 2000, China is easily the largest holder of US financial assets. Brad W Setser, fellow for geoeconomics at the Council on Foreign Relations, and Arpana Pandey, a research associate at the Council, write that […]
A national candlelight vigil will be held today (June 3) for jailed journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee. The two women were on assignment from Al Gore’s Current TV media project in China, and were arrested by North Korean police near the border. Rallies will be held nationwide tonight for two American journalists imprisoned in […]
Today the strategic forecasting firm Stratfor released a comparison report dealing with the “Geography of Recession“. I’ll let you subscribe to the actual post, but the main gist of it is that the US is far better off than its competitors at weathering the recession. What’s more, the US compares far favorably to China, and […]
Oil has finished higher during 16 of the last 20 trading sessions and seven straight as it continues to rise from lows in February. Although it looks set to close lower today as traders cash in on recent gains, the price has increased over 110% over the past four months. But the fundamental drivers over […]
As President Obama embarks for Riyadh and Cairo this evening, the “scene setters” appear: the BBC headlines “what could be one of the most important speeches of his presidency”; America’s own NPR features a pre-departure interview focused on the Cairo speech as a “high-profile opportunity to reshape America’s image among Muslim countries.” We’re all familiar […]
This documentary style film keeps the viewer on the edge of his or her seat. It depicts the lives of Algerians who are fighting against French colonial power between 1954 and 1962. Banned in France when it was released, this film seems to side with the Algerians but provides a balanced approach to the problems […]
The world has become, in most respects, unlivable. We have come to the end of nature, people are spiritually and physically dying or already dead, the once blue-green paradise, Earth, is spinning off into space, soon to become just another lifeless rock in the void. That’s one dystopian vision. Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, “The Road […]
Moral Hazard, the idea that companies will engage in highly risky behavior that jeopardizes the system that they otherwise would, when they are aware that “too big to fail” assurances of government bailout shifts the burden to taxpayers. Because of this dilemma, companies ought to be allowed to fail as a necessary trauma of capitalim.
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