Archive
Paulson’s Plaintive Plea
Who’s the most befuddled Wall Streeter of all? The richest guy on the Street.
Prison Nation
The United States has more citizens behind bars, per capita, than any other nation. No, this quirk doesn’t reflect an especially felonious gene in our national DNA. Rather, it exposes embarrassing shortfalls in our public policy.
Half-Full Champagne Flute
The Lineup: Week of Oct. 24-30, 2011
William A. Collins and Khalil Bendib offer their takes on Occupy Wall Street, while Donald Kaul and Phyllis Bennis address the big news out of Libya.
What’s Next for U.S.-Libyan Relations?
After Muammar Gaddafi’s demise, the future of Libya’s relationship with the United States remains uncertain.
Measuring Progress
Tent cities and shacks sprung up on empty lots across the country. Food lines at soup kitchens wrapped around city blocks. Unemployment soared to 25 percent. Farmers watched helplessly as crop prices plummeted, then lost their land. The evidence was clear, yet at the height of the Great Depression, Congress lacked the tools to accurately measure just how the economy as a whole was faring. With no commonly accepted national income data, they had no guideposts upon which to base sound economic policy.
Defending Bloated Military Spending
The Association of the United States Army packed hundreds of exhibitors into two halls the size of football fields at its annual convention. Companies from around the world came to the event, recently held at the Washington Convention Center, to sell the Army everything from mammoth tanks to micro-thin wires. Corporations such as Raytheon and KBR erected multi-level installations nearly big enough to generate their own zip code, complete with conference rooms and coffee bars.
Food System Pays Dearly as Wall Street Occupies Washington
Despite the Occupy Wall Street movement’s now month-long direct challenge to corporate and financial industry power, the machine keeps rolling along.
Gaddafi’s Grim End
Like any good liberal I thought that Muammar Gaddafi, after being captured by rebel forces, should have been read his Miranda rights then taken directly to jail to await trial by a jury of his peers. After being indicted, of course.
Manliness in a Can
If you worry that American corporations have lost the innovative, can-do edge necessary to compete in today’s global economy, you need to spend some time with Dr Pepper.
