Europe has been shaken by a social and political crisis. A collection of nations striving to create a community has been forced to reevaluate their relationships with each other. Today, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain all faced economic insolvency. Despite the establishment of a large bailout fund to heal the Euro crisis, the economic … Read more
Political characterizations are always relative. It is often said that if David Cameron, or another conservative European leader, were plucked off Downing Street and dropped on Pennsylvania Avenue, he would undoubtedly find his Conservative Party positions on healthcare, postsecondary education, and fiscal stimulus somewhere in line with the leftmost wing of the American Democrats. But … Read more
With a US unemployment of 9%, many western observers see China’s 10% GDP growth and find themselves looking to the East with envy. Many are asking, what are we doing wrong and what is China doing right? The answer is complicated. There are and will continue to be comparative advantages for the US and China. … Read more
This past June, the conflict in Afghanistan became the longest-running war in American history. Casualties have climbed into the thousands, and the cost of the seemingly never-ending conflict against terrorists has risen to hundreds of billions of dollars. Until recently, however, mainstream news media has failed to question or even largely cover the conflict, an … Read more
We had our team of US writers take on the Select Committee on Deficit Reduction. They assess the divide between Democrats and Republicans, the causes for the Super Committee’s current impasse, and potential solutions to the problems that the committee faces. Daniel Backman ’15 — Staff Writer Deficit reduction proposals from both Democrats and Republicans … Read more
I also think, perhaps idealistically, that the cycle that Jay talks about can be broken by true courage and true leadership, instead of the pandering that we’ve seen. And while I fully agree that the political climate is disconcerting, there are some glimmers of hope for a productive deal. Areas like farm subsidies should provide … Read more
If elections in favor of a particular party don’t indicate support of that party’s platform (The anti-tax Tea Party was a huge motivator last year, and the GOP candidates almost unanimously opposed tax increases), then what’s the point of democracy? Sure, we’d like our politicians to have entirely neutral, rational reasons for everything they do, … Read more
The one thing that the Super Committee has made painfully clear is how out of touch our Congress really is. Grover Norquist, K Street, and a handful of billionaire bank rollers now have as much power as the American public. Polls have shown again and again that Americans support tax increases to take care of budgetary problems. By the way, … Read more
When the US spends so much money on everything and still doesn’t see results, the question should be: are we spending it right? Does government spend money as carefully as we would our own? It doesn’t look like it. That being said, the super committee shouldn’t be hesitant to slash across the board, without worrying … Read more
Deficit reduction proposals from both Democrats and Republicans have been disappointing, and predictably so. In terms of the ratio between spending cuts and revenue increases, Democrats came up with a plan farther to the right than either Bowles-Simpson or Gang of Six plans, both of which were bipartisan plans. The Democrats, in their attempts at compromise with … Read more