On his CNN show today, Fareed Zakaria publicly admonished former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulsen and former Chairman of the Fed Alan Greenspan for their, in his opinion, gutless evasion of the need for tax increases. He replayed part of their interview with David Gregory on last week’s Meet The Press. They both expressed a […]
Yesterday’s diatribe from Paul Krugman (NYT, 1/29/10) concerned the federal government’s failure to fix the unemployment problem, which he called short-term, and the looming deficit, which is a long-term problem. As for the short-term fix, he felt it was a virtual no-brainer that we should pump up the deficit in order to create jobs […]
Until its unsatisfying ending, Up In The Air is a slick, breezy Hollywood entertainment that deals with a man’s fear of emotional commitment, and the midlife crisis that it causes. It deals with that theme in familiar ways, but with knowing skill and some sophistication. One reason that critics are overpraising it, however, is […]
With baited breath, are we soon to have the thrill of seeing another indictment of a “Big Time” Wall Street crook? And — dare I say it — will we see the WALK ? My appetite was tingled by an unusually lucid and well-researched piece in the Times (12/24/09) that described preliminary investigations into possibly criminal […]
I couldn’t let this go. The Times felt obligated to give the l-a-r-g-e-r view of the (half) critically acclaimed film, Precious, when it urged people to see this (reputedly) somewhat unappetizing movie about black urban life. Not being content to simply praise it for honesty and its inspiring, uplifting message about overcoming racism and poverty, […]
Now that it seems likely that Obama will increase troop levels in Afghanistan, I’m forced to rely on my “gut” instincts in saying that I think it’s a mistake. I have no choice. My gut tells me that our limited goals for “victory” are still beyond our ability at this time. Of course the reason […]
Today’s NYTimes had an article about a controversial new book about Martin Heidegger. The author, Emmanuel Faye, apparently believes that the German philosopher’s connection to Nazism so severely damages any value to be derived from his ideas that philosophy should disown him outright, and refrain from any serious critical evaluation of his work. Although I haven’t […]
I don’t want to exaggerate the significance of today’s Op-Ed piece by Paul Krugman. The title, “Too Little of a Good Thing,” says it all, namely that the TARP stimulus did its job of stopping the free-fall of the economy, but that unemployment will continue to plague us for years because it was too small […]
In today’s NYTimes, page one, comes this revelation: a compromise has been reached that just may be the breakthrough for that “Press Shield” law which has been withering in the Senate. It is a disturbing development. The very idea of a press shield law is debatable; it may actually be to the detriment of the press (more […]
It’s interesting that so many people are openly examining the value of a college degree lately. The subject seems to be coming up because, in this recession, the most expensive items in the marketplace are ripe for cost-benefit analysis. Even so, the college degree has so come to be considered “necessary” for success, that […]
