After The Deluge

by admin Posted on December 13, 2011

Last week, after 30 hours of deliberation, the political leaders of 26 of the 27 EU member countries voted for recession.  In the end they  decided to  sacrifice the short term well being of their citizens, in the expectation that in the long term the EU will recover,  emerging as a stronger and more cohesive entity

Certainly they will get half

Ø     The EU will have its Recession.

Unemployment will rise and gross domestic products within the EU will fall.

On the other hand

Ø     The EU will recover as a stronger more cohesive entity. 

That part is a bit more uncertain.  The Franco-German solution depends on a new EU treaty where member countries willingly surrender more of their independence and sovereignty  particularly with regard to fiscal policy such as taxation and national budgets.  Getting all 27 countries to agree as required under the current EU treaty is somewhat problematic, particularly since the UK has already vetoed the treaty sight unseen.

Furthermore there is some doubt just how long the market will wait for this new treaty which  probably will never see the light of day.  The EU will require about one year to achieve its goal, while based on experience of the recent past, the market More...

Share
Posted in Recesssion | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Towards a More Educated Government

by admin Posted on November 5, 2011

It is said,  Politics is the art of the plausible. If true then today’s politicians are in pretty poor shape; having fallen well below implausible.   In truth, most of us have concluded that our political leaders are a bunch of crooks, whores, pimps, con-men and extortionists.

This description is not only unfair, it is fundamentally untrue despite the fact that it is prevalent  at all levels of society, including the politicians themselves.  The problem is education.  Universities teach too much theory and too little practice.

We should take a page from the Bauhaus School of architecture, where rather than concentrating on the history of architecture and the beautiful buildings of ancient Rome and Athens, architectural students were taught the tools of their trade — carpentry, masonry, welding, etc.

With practical education our future political leaders will learn not only what they must do, but more importantly, how to do it and do it well.

The following is a simple draft of a student politician’s curriculum.  Doubtless, more qualified experts will refine my efforts.

1.    Elementary Pick Pocketing:  Required for all students:

a.     Students will learn how to steal money from unwary citizens without being noticed.

b.    Students will learn to be more focused and more importantly to become more discerning in their choice of victims, avoiding the strong and powerful More...

Share
Posted in Articles, Politics | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

Establishing International Good Will

by admin Posted on October 30, 2011

At this time of rising international trade tensions and global problems, it is more important than ever that political leaders make an effort to understand one another and particularly the problems each faces in their home country.

To foster this greater understanding, I suggest countries initiate a one year Govern Abroad Program.  We might begin by sending the U.S. Government to Beijing and the PRC Government to Washington, each to govern the other’s country.

There will be challenges, but with a measure of good will, these will not be insurmountable.

The most obvious is language.  Chinese Premier Wen Jiaboa’s knowledge of English is not great while U.S. President Obama’s knowledge of Putonghua is frankly nonexistent.  We are therefore quite fortunate that no one pays any attention to what either of them says.  I am confident that each could continue to make speeches in their respective language, without anyone knowing the difference.

The role of the respective legislatures also pose very few problems.  China’s National People’s Congress is a rubber stamp organization where voting strictly follows the party line. So too is the U.S. Congress where Senators and Congressmen take pride in the fact that they have not had an original thought since the end of the Roosevelt administration, 66 years ago.  Chinese legislators may have temporary difficulties until they learn just who runs the United States Government. More...

Share
Posted in China-Greater China, Politics, U.S. Government | Tagged , , , , | 21 Comments

The Great China Challenge

by admin Posted on October 25, 2011

Western political leaders have recently woken up to the possibility that some time during the next 20 years, China may become the world’s leading economic power.  Many in the United States and Europe are frightened.  They see this as catastrophic change and look to their political and business leaders to stop China before it is too late.

The Chinese, on the other hand, see their country’s move towards world economic leadership as less a revolution, and more a return to the normal order of things.  They see U.S. and European supremacy as a short term historical blip which is about to disappear.  To the Chinese the concept of U.S. and European triumphalism is simply one more example of Western myopia, the inability to see that the world is somewhat larger than New York, London, Berlin and Paris, and that the world economic order has been around for a very long time.

The Chinese have a point.  For most of the past 2000 years, China has been the world’s dominant economy, and for reasons we in the West still cannot understand:

2000 years ago, at the height of the Roman Empire ­, when Western Europe accounted for about 14% of the world economy, China accounted for  25%

At the height of the Renaissance, when the new ideas, new industry and the move towards world trading Empires had increased Western Europe’s share to 18%, China’s share was still 25%

200 years ago, when the industrial revolution, the new science, and rationalist More...

Share
Posted in China-Greater China, First World, Global Issues, Recesssion | Tagged , , , | 31 Comments