EconoSpeak

Friends, there are two parts to what I have to say to you today.  The first is humanitarian, the second is political—but also humanitarian.  It’s about the coronavirus silently making its way through our communities and the obligation of government to step up and protect public health.Health professionals agree on the most important measures that need to be taken.  We need a *lot* more testing, and the testing should be free for everyone, period.  Treatment should also be free, not only for...

1. Biden benefitted from a wave of (orchestrated) last minute endorsements.  One effect of this wave was to divert attention from Biden the candidate to the endorsers and their combined bandwagon effect.  Particular endorsements helped in specific states: O’Rourke in Texas, Klobuchar in Minnesota.  But Biden has flamed out in all his previous runs for president because he is a weak campaigner, not very bright and prone to own goals.  He would be mincemeat for Trump.  Sanders, however, has...

Seattle: Korea: Those bedsheets will do a great job preventing the virus from spreading.

That would be Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, whose French name means "prairie dog," and which is located where the Wisconsin River empties into the Mississippi River, third oldest town in the state founded by Europeans (the French) after Green Baay (originallly Fort Nicolet) and Portage, also located at crucial spots long used by the Native Indians for river transport.  It is also the county seat for Crawford County, with Grant County just across the Wisconsin River.Many argue that Wisconsin...

Probably the best answer is whatever Bernie Sanders says it is as he is by far the most famous person ever to adopt this term as a label for his beliefs.  There is a group  in the US baring that name, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which has been in existence since 1983.  But while its membership ha since then generally fluctuated between 4,000 and a bit over 6,000 through 2016, its membership had surged to over 45,000 by 2019, clearly responding to Bernie's identification with...

Not the US.Dick Cheney collaborated with US major oil companies in a plot to at least take over operating the oil production in Iraq, OPEC's second largest producer and exporter, if not get to own the oil itself outright (which has not happened as oil in the ground was and remains owned by the Iraqi government, which is they way it is in pretty much all OPEC members).  Of all people, Juan Cole and many other progressives agreed that the war was all about controlling Iraq's oil.  So the US...

Casual observers of the political scene got an insight into union politics when a small storm erupted over a flyer distributed by Nevada’s Culinary Union attacking Bernie Sanders and his Medicare for All proposal.Politico has a piece surveying similar disputes in other states and nationwide.  Some unions, like the building trades and the Teamsters, want to keep the insurance plans they’ve negotiated for their members; most others want universal public insurance.Aside from the specifics of...

The Intercept usefully preports Michael Bloomberg’s proposals for higher education, focusing on plans to upgrade workforce skills along the lines desired by employers.  Here’s the selection they excerpted that covers this, worth reading carefully: There’s a lot here that would be useful to businesses located in the US if they want to take advantage of it: money for vocational degrees geared to business needs, improved credentialing for these degrees, and support for internships and similar...

I use the term "crank" affectionately. The figure below is a valiant effort by Arthur O. Dahlberg to depict the "socio-economic process" as a network of troughs, pipes and valves. Even this elaborate contraption is confined to "the movement of the major social variables." Dahlberg believed that his chart technique communicated his analysis more effectively than words could. What the chart communicates to me, besides Dahlberg's intense commitment is "it's complicated" and "everything is...