CapitalistImperialistPig

Brad DeLong and the Berkley Econ gang chow down at The Adagia for some econ chat with Alan Taylor: "So if Britain with its structural trade surpluses could run up net foreign assets equal to twenty months' GDP by 1913, could the U.S. run up a net foreign liability balance equal to twenty months' GDP by 2023?" "By symmetry, that would mean that the rest of the world would have to play the role of pre-World War I Britain. Yes, it could happen." "And somebody would have to play the role of pre-World War I Argentina. Would that be the U.S?" "Usually in international finance the role of Argentina is played by Argentina." ... We shall see, I suppose.

Changcho links in the comments to ex-CIA agent Ray McGovern's interview by Amy Goodman. There are many sharp points in transcript, and George Tenet has impaled himself on many of them. The question that interests me the most, though, is why the heck we got into that war in the first place. George Bush is obviously the key, and I will come back to that in a future post, but why did he have so many eager enablers? One hint comes from this part where McGovern takes a few chunks out of a couple of Democratic Senators: RAY McGOVERN: I think people like Dick Durbin have to change their whole mindset and realize that they are not a subservient branch of government. You know, I’m a Virginian, and I think George Mason and James Madison and Tom Jefferson of rolling over in their grave. Here’s Durbin saying, “I knew that the war was going to be fought on false pretenses, but I was sworn to secrecy.” Well, he was sworn to defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies, both...

Israel's recent invasion of Lebanon was its Iraq, as the earlier Lebanese invasion was in some respects its Vietnam. Here, of course, anyone who posted anything about Israel's blunders was subject to fierce attack as an anti-Semite. Israel, prompted by close exposure to the war and perhaps motivated by its draftee Army, figured this out a lot quicker than the US has. The Winograd commission has investigated and quite rightly laid the blame at the feet of Prime Minister Olmert, who in addition to his military incompetence, has also demonstrated a whiff of Bushian corruption. A few excerpts, via the Jerusalem Post : a) The decision to respond with an immediate, intensive military strike was not based on a detailed, comprehensive and authorized military plan, based on careful study of the complex characteristics of the Lebanon arena. A meticulous examination of these characteristics would have revealed the following: the ability to achieve military gains having significant poli...

Larry Summers is a Harvard Prof, former Secretary of the Treasury, former Harvard President, and former hero to the Lumonator . Like your humble correspondent (YHC), Summers has concluded that the debate over the what of Antropogenic Global Warming (AGW) is over, and that it's time to figure out what to do about it. Also like your humble correspondent, Summers is none too happy with Kyoto or its Cap and Trade paradigm. (Via Brad DeLong ): With the accumulation of scientific evidence and its persuasive presentation to the public, the global warming debate has reached a new stage. Those who still deny that human activity is warming the planet, or claim that “business as usual” can continue indefinitely without profoundly adverse consequences, are increasingly seen as the moral and intellectual equivalent of those who deny that tobacco has adverse consequences for human health.... [T]here are huge opportunities to reduce emissions with economic benefit or negligible economic cost.....

Josh Marshall links to an appearance of former CIA Agent Ray McGovern on Tucker Carlson's show in which McGovern more less directly accuses Cheney of being behind the forged Niger uranium documents. McGovern claims to have evidence - Congress had better subpoena him quick. Personally, I always suspected the Chalabi axis, but its obvious that the US government has pointedly avoided getting to the bottom of the matter. I think it maybe time. Josh has reported on this story a lot, but hasn't seen any smoking guns. The trail always peters out somewhere in the Italian intelligence service.

Eli continues to expose various denialist shenanigans. He has slogged through the hundreds of pages of deposition in Singer's SLAPP suit against Lancaster to dig up the incriminating evidence - the bloody fingered and oh-so-well fitting glove. Masochists should study the complete deposition, linked here via Eli. It's a good lesson on how an unscruplous political operative like Singer, backed by wealthy corporate interests, can use the SLAPP lawsuit technique to waste the time and money of a conscientious individual and ultimately intimidate them. Such lawsuits are no longer so easy, which may be one reason Lancaster now abjures his apology and attacks Singer and friends. E pur si muove!

God answers all prayers. Her most common answers are: "No", "Buzz Off", and "Fill out the paperwork and submit it to my secretary."