Republicans

Smart Links 17 August 2011
Paul Summerville • August 17, 2011

Articles on a China re-think, convergence of Japanese and US yields, US job creators, radical republicans, and rethinking happiness.

Great China bull Niall Ferguson has second thoughts.

The Daily Beast -- Gloating China, Hidden Problems
Beijing has chastised the U.S. for fiscal recklessness, but it may be headed for an economic collapse of its own.

The great convergence.

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Smart Links -- 12 May 2011
Paul Summerville • May 12, 2011

Financial Times – America: The Elephantine Problem

How do you make a contribution to reduce the debt?

George Orwell – Shooting An Elephant

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World
Elephant Shooting, Greek Pain, Different Oysters, Taxing Wages, University Investment, Chinese Beauty, Time Travel, Here We Go
Paul Summerville • May 12, 2011

George Orwell’s famous essay on British Imperialism was about how he shot an elephant in Burma so he didn’t look foolish.

With 2,000 or so Burmese looking on he felt he had to pull the trigger.

In the United States the elephant is public debt, and the Republicans are having trouble finding a top gun.

Articles also on Greece, Japan rethinking its economy (again), the high cost of wage taxation, whether an expensive university education makes sense, contemporary Chinese stuff, playing with time, and Canada’s social conservatives start to stir.

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World
What Happened Anyway?
Paul Summerville • November 1, 2010

David Brooks argues that Obama's looming defeat has been baked in since the spring of 2009.

Ever prescient Brooks argues that the combination of the bank and auto industry bailouts and sickening sense that the economy had made a permanent downward shift left independent voters appalled at the unfairness of the rescues and the increase in the size of government.

Obama's 'religion and guns' dismissal of any populist critique left him blind to the political consequences.

The price will be high.

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World
Not Batting .299, Politics and Change, Economic Medicare, Just Say No, Ni Hao, Sheep's Cloth, On Gold, Class and Classless
Paul Summerville • October 4, 2010

I had two interesting conversations over the weekend about economic incentives.

The first conversation happened with a UVIC MBA student I am mentoring while we were having dim sum at Golden City on Saturday.

He remarked that he had an exam a few days before that included a question about the responsibility that corporations had to protect the environment.

http://www.fujiarts.com/cgi-bin/main.pl

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Smart Picks -- Saying Stupid Things, Triple P, Entrepreneurs Wanted, Commodity Trap, Prison Pension, Euro Mess, GOP-RIP, Warming
Paul Summerville • March 24, 2010

Sure to inflame the conservative talk shows in the United States is news that a controversial event at the University of Ottawa featuring right-wing U.S. pundit Ann Coulter was cancelled due to safety concerns. It should however inflame all talk shows particularly in Canada. We put people in jail not for what they think or what they say but what they do or get other people to do.

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Tea In The Centre Thank-you
Paul Summerville • November 9, 2009

The reason why the Democratic victory in New York’s 23rd is a mixed blessing is simple: it increases the odds that the Republicans will not do Democrats the great favor of committing suicide between now and the next Election Day.

The election results underlined -- despite the best efforts of the ranting Right -- that if you want to win power in America it is better to take your tea in the centre.

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Twin Virtues: Inequality of Outcomes & Equality of Opportunity©

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Ultimately, the most successful societies find the balance between the twin virtues of inequality of outcomes and equality of opportunity.
 
The new politics must marry the twin virtues of unequal outcomes and equality of opportunity.
 
When too few get too much everybody ends up with less.
 
Can it be that striving for equality of opportunity however imperfect the process not only benefits the individual but also creates benefits for the society as a whole that are unintended but wonderful?
 
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