Author Archives: stephenkmacksd

How opportune! As Senile Old Joe marinates in his cognitive decline , sequestered from public view. His campaign, such as it is, carefully managed ‘interviews’ with friendly media, and short videos. Curtis Sittenfeld’s ‘Counter Factual Biography’ of Hillary Clinton, to … Continue reading →

Freudian ‘Science’ won’t go quietly! Professor Cohen considers  ‘pondering the tastelessly funny, improbably Freudian coincidence of the centennial of Beyond the Pleasure Principle with a deadly global pandemic.’ Josh Cohen is a psychoanalyst in private practice and Professor of Modern Literary … Continue reading →

It isn’t only Mr. Luce that is suddenly concerned with the welfare of ‘the less well off’. The Economist has just as suddenly come to a realization about ‘young minds’ : ‘If schools don’t open soon the effect on young … Continue reading →

The opening paragraph of this essay reads, in part, as if were written in an American newspaper, during the the height of the McCarthy Purges, in its first sentence, while subsequently  critiquing it: call it maladroit framing, or pastiche journalism, … Continue reading →

From September 1 2019: Headline: Argentina: how IMF’s biggest ever bailout crumbled under Macri Sub-headline: With the Peronists waiting in the wings, the country is struggling to avoid a ninth sovereign default ‘The decision to seek what became the biggest bailout … Continue reading →

Headline: Pro-people policies, dutiful citizens effective in China’s COVID-19 fight: Daniel A. Bell The myth of a ‘benevolent paternalism’ makes its return via a radical nostalgia for ‘safety’ in the age of Covid-19? Mr. Bell and his co-author Wang Pei, … Continue reading →

Imagine the Blackstone Headquarters, 345 Park Avenue, New York. Just call this building, and its tenets, part of the Manhattan Corporate elite’s architectural hyperbole.   Lets focus on Mr. Gray’s private office, not that cavernous, even intimidating conference room, where each … Continue reading →

Andy Divine never shuts up! But when he does come up for air, to pronounce on ‘The Pandemic’ he is adept at playing the victim! Even America’s favorite discrete Neo-Liberal, Obama, tweeted about this! ‘I have direct, personal experience of … Continue reading →

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 →