Life Is Good

So declares Fraser Nelson, writing in Thursday's Daily Telegraph.  His positive outlook contrasts with the normal doom and gloom from governments, think tanks and "individual thinkers".  And, he serves up this quote to show that the pessimists have always been with us.

The world is in a rush and is now getting close to its end.

Archbishop Wulfstan of York, 1014

I will grant you that a case can be made that the Archbishop was actually being optimistic in anticipating the end times.

Here is the kernel of Mr Nelson's argument:

Governments may be having a hard time of it, struggling with debt they ought not to have taken on.  Noisy pressure groups who seek government funding may also believe that the sky is falling in.  But a clear-headed analysis of the facts reveals something rather extraordinary.  The crash has not even retarded, let alone halted, human progress.  The world has never been richer, healthier, freer or more equal than it is today.

Mr Nelson finishes it off talking about the Queen.

This was, in a roundabout way, the point the Queen made when she addressed the United Nations two years ago.  She had witnessed incredible change, she said, and much of it for the better.  But weekly audiences with a dozen prime ministers seem to have left her with a clear idea about who makes things better.  “Many of these sweeping advances have come about not because of governments, committee resolutions, or central directives – although all these have played a part,” she said.  The improvements came simply “because millions of people around the world have wanted them”.

The Queen was too polite to spell it out:  don’t listen too hard to the politicians.  It will just depress you.  They do their best, and sometimes even help things, but play a minor role in the development of nations.  A country is not shaped by manifestos or five-year plans, but by the courage and ingenuity of its people.  And the Olympics, a glorious festival of human achievement, is far closer to what’s really happening out there.

And a nice tribute to the Olympics.

I would also like to note that Mr Nelson manages to break each of his paragraphs down into several sentences, as a kindness to his readers.

Regards  —  Cliff

Romney Strategy Critiqued

Over at Commentary writer John Podhoretz says "Romney's Strategy Isn't Working".

He may well be correct.  It is possible that the Team thought that the economy and governance in general was so outrageously bad that all that had to do to win was stand there and avoid unforced errors.  With Fox News reporting that President Obama has a lead in the polls, and Governor Romney's unfavorables are up, this may not be the winning approach.

However, it isn't over until it is over.  Just ask Harry.

Regards  —  Cliff

What The President Might Have Been Saying

As I have listened to the clip from President Obama's Roanoke speech, I have wondered if what he might have been talking about was the fact, which surface a couple of decades ago, that many fortunes were made, based upon slaves and the slave trade, including here in New England.  When the President says "You didn't build that" he is echoing the words of others who have said that many long standing fortunes in New England were based on slavery, even down to these days.

I am one of those who recognizes this debt to our past, although I don't see it as the absolute explanation for our economic success as a nation.  Recognizing the evil of slavery, I would be happy to pay reparations.  That is, I would be happy if we could find someone with the stature and authority to issue absolution and make this issue go away for ever.

On the other hand, President Obama is on record as opposing reparations and calling for helping all the poor in this nation, with things like a college education.

This take on the President's speech—that it is about the fruits of slavery—suggests that all of us need to have a better understanding of our nation's economic history.  Also, this is a different spin than that put forward by Professor Elizabeth Warren.

I still think the President's speech runs orthogonal to our American experience of how things happen, but this explanation does call our attention to the mistakes of our past.  The founding of our nation, back to the early 1600s, includes both good and bad.  We should celebrate the good and acknowledge and repent of the bad.

Regards  —  Cliff

Targeted Killing in Afghanistan

The Guardian has a piece titled "Britain faces legal challenge over secret US 'kill list' in Afghanistan:  Afghan man who lost relatives in missile strike says UK role in supplying information to US military may be unlawful".  The reporter is Nick Hopkins and the publication date is Thursday 9 August 2012.  So some Brit lawyers are representing a man who lost five relatives in a drone attack—an attack that might have hit the wrong targets.

Given that the drone was a US asset, this eventually tracks back to us.

My question is if the lawyers have located equivelent Taliban offices, where inquiries can be made as to the legitimacy of targets for acid throwing, IEDs and suicide bombers.  Are all the targets legitimate under international law?

In the mean time, yes, UK and US Government authorities need to be held to the highest standards in ordering DrOne attacks.

Yes, let the lawyers proceed, but first let a rapacious press go after those lawyers regarding the flip side of this question.  Then, when good answers have been provided, let the lawyers go forth.

Regads  —  Cliff

Revisions

Commissioner Tom Wirtanen will be on City Life (LTC Channel 8 in the AM) tomorrow and while the show is for Dracut, where the Commissioner had a law practice for a decade, the Host, George Anthes, may try to steer the conversation around to the LRCC By-Laws.  I would note that the revisions are still in development.

Regards  —  Cliff

Greece Facing Employment Cuts

The New York Times has a piece (exclusive from Reuters) on Greece cutting 40,000 civil servants, out of a total of 700,000.  That is a cut of almost 6%.  This was a cut previously rejected by the Government, but now needed to sustain external economic help.

Greece has a population of 11.3 million people, as opposed to the United States, with 314.1 million.  That means the Greek population is 3.6% of ours (frankly, I was surprised).  It also means that a similar US layoff of government sector workers, based on population, would be around 1.1 million.  That would be a big slug.

But, this is against the background provided in the lede:

Latest data on Thursday showed the jobless rate climbed to 23.1 percent, with nearly 55 percent of those aged 15-24 out of work, a desperate situation that fed into the popularity of anti-bailout parties in Greek elections this year.

Things are not going well in the EU.  And the new French top bracket is a 75% income tax.  And, with what is left over they buy stuff with a 21.1% VAT,♠ which may revert to a mere 19.6% (to be fair, some items are taxed at a lower rate and items from the pharmacy and some newspapers are taxed at a 2.1% VAT rate).

And bad as it is for Greece, what are the long term implications for the US?

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Per Wikipedia, VAT "differs from the sales tax in that, with the latter, the tax is collected and remitted to the government only once, at the point of purchase by the end consumer.  With the VAT, collections, remittances to the government, and credits for taxes already paid occur each time a business in the supply chain purchases products."

"Does America want to be Mitt Romney's client?"

Law Professor Ann Althouse talks about what Governor Romney might be thinking about for advancing our nation economically.  Here is the quote she took from the article to which she links.

If a client invites you in and is ready to pay a lot of money for your counsel, it is not because you know their business better than they do. Of course, they know their business better than I ever would.  But they’re looking for someone to understand their business challenges in a new light.  And that presents an analytical challenge which is steep and exciting.  And I love the thinking and the analyzing as much as anything. 

I understand his point.  Having done, in my time, analysis for money, I agree with the sentiment.

Later in the blog post she talks about the five things Governor Romney sees as important for reviving the our economy.

Any nation that wants to have good jobs and rising wages knows that the answer is to have, if you will, a strategy based on the five principles that form the basis of my economic policy. First, take advantage of our energy resources; two, provide the skills that our workers need through adult education and great schools; three, get trade to work for us by clamping down on cheaters like China and also opening up new markets for goods, like Latin America; four, taking steps to get America to a balanced budget; and five, being a champion of small business by holding down taxes on small business, getting regulation to work for small business, and getting health-care costs under control.

As I am currently reading The New Geography of Jobs, I think there should be specific emphasis on "innovation", although I think the bits and pieces are there.

Regards  —  Cliff