Grasping in Glasgow
Now that the Conference of the Parties 26th Summit on climate change (known colloquially as COP26) is over we can see how the world leaders are responding to a threat deemed by the summiteers to be existential. Various pundits pointed…
The Taxman Returns
“The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest possible amount of feathers with the smallest possible amount of hissing. – Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV’s Finance Minister, 1665 The most recent $2 trillion tax…
The Stimuli and the People
Given the intense political animus on display in Washington in recent weeks, it is hard to imagine any rational policy agenda emerging from the chaos. The optics of a new president being installed with thousands of federal troops standing by…
Crossing the Political-Economic Divide
How do entrepreneurs assess political risk? Other than Mark Zuckerberg, do they even think about it? Are technology companies and social networks on the side of the populists? Division is in the air. Everything I read and everything I hear…
How Much Green for this Deal?
When I was a leftist radical some decades ago in Berkeley, I joined in many late-night to early morning discussions about the woes of the world. The Vietnam War was raging, we were all subject to the draft and none…
The Affirmative Action President
I live in Kenya. This weekend President Obama visited with his extended family and government officials. His presence got me thinking about his struggles as President… On October 9, 2009, the Norwegian Nobel Committee voted to award the Peace Prize…