Author Archives: stephenkmacksd

After Ms. Tett’s essay of April 22, 2020: Headline: How much should it cost to contain a pandemic? Sub-headline: Assigning an economic value to life is taboo — but we must confront the trade-offs https://www.ft.com/content/9a74f748-8427-11ea-b872-8db45d5f6714 Mr. Luce’s essay doesn’t surprise, … Continue reading →

Ms. Tett is almost convincing by putting ‘the costs’ of The Pandemic at arms length from herself, via Wilkerson ‘speculative models’, but then she gives the game away: So I salute Wilkinson for publishing his speculative models — however contentious … Continue reading →

Note the use of antitheses in Mr. Paulson’s political intervention:   ‘Isolationism vs. Globalism’ , Populism vs  Integrationism, forces of openness rooted in market principles vs. those of closure across four dimensions: trade, capital flows, innovation and global institutions: The Potemkin … Continue reading →

From the hysterical opposition to the Free Speech movement, that rebellion led by the heroic Mario Savio, washed up Movie Star and FBI snitch Ronald Reagan, parleyed this into the Governorship of California…the rest is ‘History’. To S.I. Hayakawa, and … Continue reading →

Macron, who hungers for The World Stage, is interviewed by a not just friendly   newspaper :  He ‘warned of the collapse of the EU as a ‘political project’ unless it supports stricken economies’ ! Neo-Liberalism in all its guises, from … Continue reading →

The reader must agree that Mr. Ganesh has, not just a talent for hyperbole, but is a Master of that rhetorical style: It feels rude to point out how little was expected of Harry Truman when he became US president … Continue reading →

Mr. Zevin’s history of the Economist offers insights on every page, but this from pages 206 and 207 is so very worthy of thinking about: And its footnote 115:  Political Observer    

Read two of the earlier letters from William to Henry last night. The subject, art and artists recently viewed, and lividly recalled, very impressive. While William was taking the cure in Germany. When I first got the book, I made … Continue reading →

Headline: Coronavirus and the threat to US supremacy Sub-headline: Two questions serve as a reality check on excessive American declinism It has reached such a point that Mr. Rachman feels compelled to link to his January 3, 2011 essay at Foreign … Continue reading →

Niall Ferguson, in his Sunday Times essay of April 12 , 2020 , features John  Maynard Keynes as its main protagonist. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/comment/dont-bet-on-a-quick-global-resurrection-z553527tx Keynes appears first an a negotiator of the Treaty of Versailles, who collapses from overwork or The Spanish … Continue reading →