politicalowl

Economics: the view from below  - Marion Foucade in theSwiss Journal of Economics and Statistics In the course of the twentieth century, economists have been able to establish a remarkable position for themselves, as experts in local and national governmental organizations, in independent agencies and central banks, in international institutions, in business and finance, and in the media. They supplanted lawyers in government and historians in the public sphere. As such, they have been involved with some of the most consequential decisions that societies make—decisions having to do, for instance, with the level of unemployment that might be left unattended, because it should be considered “natural”; with whether or not to authorize the purchase and sale of untested financial products or with how to organize the delivery of clean water, vaccines or electricity. This involvement has come at a cost. As Robert Chernomas and Ian Hudson put it, “economics has the awkward distincti...

Politicians with hopeless legislation will not fix the obesity epidemic - London Sunday Telegraph ($) In the eyes of many politicians, it isn’t important that regulations deliver results so long as it feels like a good idea and authorities are seen to be doing something. ... Even the most apparently obvious policy solution to a problem – introduced in good faith and with the best intentions– creates ripples impacting on people’s lives in ways politicians may well have been unable to predict, particularly when it comes to lifestyle issues. It is therefore of paramount importance to exercise caution when legislating, and to proceed only when there is overwhelming evidence to suggest the measure will deliver. The problem is that politicians are increasingly expected to provide a solution for every problem under the sun as we look to the state to replace the influence of other institutions – family or religion, for example – in our lives. It requires a significant amount of self-awarene...

Jokowi Turns to Populist Policies Ahead of Tough 2019 Election  - Jakarta Globe President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo still enjoys high public approval, with recent surveys giving him a double digit lead over his main rival, former general Prabowo Subianto. ... Now, less than a year from an expected hard-fought 2019 election, Jokowi has made a "strategic policy shift," say senior government officials, dropping nearly $20 billion of infrastructure projects to focus on social welfare. The government has also slapped price controls on staple goods such as fuel, power, rice and sugar — moves that will surely be welcomed by voters. Dear Barnaby, it's time to shut your mouth - Sydney Morning Herald China opposes U.S. resolution on Tibet issue - Xinhua China on Friday expressed opposition to a U.S. Senate resolution on the reincarnation of Dalai Lama, saying it has interfering in China's internal affairs. ... The U.S. Senate on Thursday agreed to a resolution wh...

Workers in OECD countries pay one quarter of wages in taxes  - OECD Workers in OECD countries paid just over a quarter of their gross wages in tax on average in 2017, with just over half of countries seeing small increases in the personal average tax rate, according to a new OECD report. Taxing Wages 2018 shows that the “net personal average tax rate” – income tax and social security contributions paid by employees, minus any family benefits received, as a share of gross wages – was 25.5% across the OECD. This OECD-wide average rate, calculated for a single person with no children earning an average wage, has remained stable in recent years, but it covers country averages that range from below 15% in Chile, Korea and Mexico to over 35% in Belgium, Denmark and Germany.  Electric motors will soon offer freedom and convenience more cheaply and cleanly than internal combustion engines https://t.co/tktyrXz5AE — The Economist (@TheEconomist) April 26, 2018 A look at ...

Why Democracy Fails to Reduce Inequality: Blame the Brahmin Left  - Pro Market A new paper by Thomas Piketty finds that major parties on both sides of the political spectrum have been captured by elites and warns of a future political system that pits “globalists” against “nativists.” Piketty tracks electoral trends across three countries—the US, Britain, and France—from 1948 to 2017. Despite their vastly different electoral systems and political histories, he finds, a similar trend can be found in all three countries: left and center-left parties no longer represent the working- and lower-middle-class voters they were traditionally associated with. Instead, both the left- and right-wing parties have come to represent two distinct elites whose interests diverge from the rest of the electorate: the intellectual elite (“Brahmin Left”) and the business elite (“Merchant Right”). Piketty calls this a “multiple-elite party system”: the highly educated elite votes one way, and the hi...

Celebrating 28 Years of the Hubble Space Telescope - NASA This colorful image, taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, celebrates the Earth-orbiting observatory’s 28th anniversary of viewing the heavens, giving us a window seat to the universe’s extraordinary stellar tapestry of birth and destruction. Let’s Stop the Hysterical Rhetoric about the Opioid Crisis  - Cato Institute The point is, millions of Americans have genuine, medically necessary reasons to be taking opioids. They make up the vast majority of opioid users and it doesn’t make sense to lump them into the opioid crisis. ... If policy makers in the Trump administration want to effectively address the problem, there are other ways to do it. They should promote “harm reduction” programs, including pilot “heroin maintenance” programs, such as those that have worked successfully in Switzerland, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and Canada. They should also take note of recent evidence from Johns Hopkins Univ...

Tiny Islands Make for Big Tensions Between Greece and Turkey  - New York Times In all, the number of incursions by Turkish military ships and jets into Greek territory has spiked in recent months, according to Greek officials, stoking concerns of a new military conflict in a region where Turkey is already embroiled in the war raging in Syria. The biggest uncertainty involves Turkey’s strongman president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and whether his ambitions are fueling renewed claims to these Greek isles — particularly after he embarked on Wednesday on an election campaign in which he is expected to play heavily on nationalistic sentiment. Will we ever trust our banks again? Sydney Daily Telegraph The inquiry has barely begun and many men and women in suits are still to be sweated but already the famous “four pillars” of our banking industry are looking more like the broken columns of a Greek temple. And AMP, one of the other elements of Paul Keating’s original 1990 invention of t...

Hackery or Heresy - John Quiggin in Crooked Timber There was a time when free-market economists like Milton Friedman saw defense spending as the exemplar of the rent-seeking “iron triangle” (interest groups, bureaucrats and politicians) ensuring that public expenditure is always wasteful. I Don’t suppose that Boskin and the rest have looked at the evidence and concluded that Friedman was wrong. Rather they’ve correctly calculated that heresy on defense spending would see them cast into the outer darkness of irrelevance. Sad but true. I hadn't thought about the parallel between conservative economists and evangelicals, but it's exactly right https://t.co/BKi8RWrN1L pic.twitter.com/62nNNHv9IM — Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) April 20, 2018 Sessions told the White House that Rosenstein’s firing could prompt his departure, too https://t.co/wZPdjCzNLk — Washington Post (@washingtonpost) April 20, 2018 The Chinese Communist Party Is Setting Up Cells at Universities Acros...

Does royal commission turncoat Scott Morrison really think the public is so dim?  - Fairfax As a clearly panicked Scott Morrison announced on Friday a stream of eye-watering new penalties for serious misconduct by banks and financial services firms, it’s instructive to look back at his zealous efforts over two years to protect the banks from a royal commission currently uncovering just that sort of misbehaviour. They rule but they don’t govern, @barriecassidy on modern politics. #Insiders #InsidersExtra #auspol pic.twitter.com/k5iHlbIMRB — Insiders ABC (@InsidersABC) April 20, 2018 Why is unemployment still so high - Inside Story But the single biggest reason why high jobs growth has not reduced unemployment significantly is that it’s not meant to. It was touched on in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it paragraph in this week’s Treasury/Department of Home Affairs report, Shaping a Nation. The report’s starting point and conclusion is that immigration is always good for ...

News Corp losing plot as fast as Peta Credlin  - Financial Review It's been clear to even the most distant observer that former Liberal adviser Peta Credlin has become – or perhaps always was – an egomaniacal fantasist. It may often be biased and sensationalist, but you have to enjoy the way the Daily Telly does its corrections. @GreenJ pic.twitter.com/WQpKPquVHN — David Dale (@Thetribalmind) April 17, 2018 Monday (left) Tuesday (right) Wednesday TBD pic.twitter.com/sxkWhRYJRv — Glenn Thrush (@GlennThrush) April 17, 2018 Today, @AP makes an important update to our Stylebook -- adding a new chapter on polls and surveys. The headline: "poll results that seek to preview the outcome of an election must never be the lead, headline or single subject of any story.” https://t.co/BYap6bndDD — David Scott (@davidthornhill) April 17, 2018 Israel Folau has shown strength of character, says Scott Morrison  - Daily Telegraph FEDERAL treasurer Scott Morrison has ba...

Comey may be many things, but is he really a liar?  BBC North American Editor Jon Sopel So let's cut straight to it. I've been reading the book, and watched the interview. I also spent hours listening to James Comey giving testimony to Congress before he was fired and afterwards. And my views about him have coalesced.I think he is vain, arrogant, pious, slightly pompous, supercilious, faux-naïve over the Hillary Clinton emails and the role he played in determining the outcome of the election, and sly in the personal comments he makes about Donald Trump - orange face, white half-moon eyes and (not unusually small) hands.A little juvenile, no? And most of all I think it is the lowest of political smears to give credence to the Moscow hotel peeing prostitutes story on the basis of salacious and unsubstantiated claims. ...But there is one other judgement I would make about Comey. I don't think he's a liar. And on the stuff that really matters, that is the key. Comey: ...

Abbott is the goose laying Shorten’s golden egg  - Miranda Devine in the Telegraph LAST week Tony Abbott’s insurgency against Malcolm Turnbull  finally came out of the shadows. No more mealy-mouthed pretence that the former PM is just being the best possible “Member for Warringah”. No, Abbott is doing what he does best, as the opposition leader tearing down a Prime Minister. Paul Bongiorno in The Saturday Paper : His colleagues have no doubts Abbott wants to be drafted back into his old job but only if Turnbull, who Joyce says is smart enough to see when he’s finished, steps aside. The chances of Turnbull following that script would be remote in the extreme. But there is enough panic and despondency in the government party room to encourage a “tap on the shoulder” closer to the election. Another political assassination would be the final proof for voters that the Liberals – like Labor before them – need a period back in opposition to sort out their differences. ....

Trump Sees Inquiry Into Cohen as Greater Threat Than Mueller  - New York Times President Trump’s advisers have concluded that a wide-ranging corruption investigation into his personal lawyer poses a greater and more imminent threat to the president than even the special counsel’s investigation, according to several people close to Mr. Trump. Trump Attorney Cohen Is Subject Of Months-Long Federal Criminal Investigation  - NPR President Trump's longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen was the subject of a months-long criminal investigation before the FBI raided his home and office this week, according to court documents. Federal prosecutors made that disclosure on Friday in responding to a request by Cohen for a judge to restrict the government's ability to review the evidence the FBI collected in those raids. Polls count but the numbers don’t always add up  - Chris Kenny in The Australian Putting aside the political mistake and its ongoing consequences, the mos...

Power of Women - Variety Variety profiles five women -- Emily Blunt, Alicia Keys, Margaret Atwood, Tina Fey, and Tarana Burke -- and takes a look at how they're using their clout to support charitable causes.   How Barnaby Joyce went from popular to pariah  - Courier Mail The Billion-Dollar Romance Fiction Industry Has A Diversity Problem  - NPR The RITA Award , the top honor for romance writers awarded by the Romance Writers of America, was awarded this week, and the organization acknowledged that in its 36-year history, no black author has ever won the prize. According to the RWA's own research, black authors have written less than half of 1 percent of the total number of books considered as prize finalists. "It is impossible to deny that this is a serious issue and that it needs to be addressed," said the organization in a statement .  Food labels and their effects on consumers  - Journalist's Resource In Chile, boxes of Trix have lost their ca...

F.B.I. Raids Office of Trump’s Longtime Lawyer Michael Cohen; Trump Calls It ‘Disgraceful’ - New York Times FBI Raids Home, Office of Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen, Who Could Be Guilty of So Many Crimes  - New York Magazine Cohen is clearly in a lot of trouble. This is not a case of a highly respected pillar of the community being suddenly revealed to have a dark side. Perhaps the most surprising thing about Cohen’s career is that up to this point he has avoided prison. Cohen is fond of threatening people that Trump needs to intimidate; the subjects of his threats include journalists who report unflattering things about Trump. Cohen has been involved in Trump’s murky business dealings with Russia, along with his childhood friend, legitimate businessman Felix Sater , who once stabbed a guy and was also convicted of a mob-linked pump-and-dump scheme. Trump’s One-Night Stand Turns Into a Legal Nightmare  - New York Times Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump app...

‘Golgo 13’ assassin Duke Togo joins Foreign Minister Taro Kono in videos promoting safety overseas  - The Japan Times Duke Togo, the main character from the popular manga “Golgo 13,” has been enlisted by the Foreign Ministry to spread awareness about how Japanese can stay safe overseas. The character, a professional assassin voiced by actor Hiroshi Tachi, appears in a series of online videos launched by the ministry on Friday. But the star power doesn’t end there — Foreign Minister Taro Kono voices the role of Foreign Minister Takakura. A total of 13 episodes will be provided, with one episode released each week. In the first episode, released Friday, Takakura asks Duke Togo for support in helping small and midsize Japanese firms operating abroad raise awareness about measures to protect themselves from terrorist attacks. The assassin accepts the request, and in later episodes he will be sent to various locations across the globe to carry out his mission. Analysis: In Tr...

Big Business Is Too Big -The New York Times The big airlines. The hospital systems that dominate many metro areas. Gigantic retailers like Walmart and Amazon. And, increasingly, technology companies like Facebook and Google. The United States has an oligopoly problem — a concentration of corporate power that has been building for years but is only now starting to receive serious attention from policymakers, think tanks and journalists. ... Washington’s lenient approach to corporate power in recent decades — from both parties — has aggravated inequality, and it’s time for that approach to change. The country with the world's worst inequality is ...   - NPR By World Bank Estimate, South Africa Is The World’s Most Unequal Country In this list of 149 countries and territories, the World Bank estimates income inequality around the world. On a scale of 0 to 100, 0 represents total equality. Why We Need Women in the Military  - Project Syndicate As the nature of the ...

Why my generation is indifferent to anti-Semitism  - The Spectator For young Labour supporters, Zionism is a synonym for white supremacy and western colonialism Jews face rampant anti-Semitism in Germany, Europe  - Deutsch Welle The murder of an elderly Holocaust survivor in Paris has shocked Europe. However, Michel Friedman writes in this guest commentary, the killing should surprise no one: Anti-Semitism is omnipresent. Anti-Semitism and the threat of identity politics  - Financial Times Today, hatred of Jews is mixed in with fights about Islam and Israel  European anti-Semitism is not imported  - Deutsch Welle In Europe and in Germany there is currently a lot of talk about “imported anti-Semitism,” supposedly brought here by Muslims. Yet hatred of Jews is part of Christianity’s DNA, says Krsto Lazarevic. Envy and Prejudice in Germany: An Author's Quest to Explain Muslim Anti-Semitism  - bpiegel Israeli author David Ranan spent a year spea...

The cost of Stan Kroenke’s stadium in Inglewood is climbing, and his fellow NFL owners made an adjustment for that Tuesday at the league’s annual meetings. Owners approved raising the debt waiver to $4.963 billion for the first phase of the project, which includes the football stadium where the Rams and Chargers will play, the neighboring 6,000-seat performance venue, the 200,000 square feet of office space for NFL Media, the parking lots surrounding the stadium and the cost of the entire 300-acre parcel. The stadium, which is scheduled to open in 2020, was originally projected to cost $2.6 billion. Do Women Candidates Have An Advantage In 2018?  - NPR The answer appears to be yes, but as with all things related to identity and politics, it's complicated. Pollsters say women have distinct advantages this year— and many voters may not even realize how much gender affects their opinions of candidates. Defying criticism, Taiji pushes forward with bold plans based on continued d...

France to make school obligatory from the age of three  - The Local fr School is currently compulsory for French children from the age of six, although since 1989 parents have had the legal right to a place in an ecole maternelle (pre-school) from age three. A right most of them take up, in large part due to the fact he schools are free. But in future they won't have a choice with President Emmanuel Macron to announce that from September 2019, the start of the new school year, the age of compulsory school attendance will be set at three. "This decision reflects the president's desire to make school the place of real equality and is recognition that the ecole maternelle should no longer be considered as just a form of day care or preparation for elementary school, but as a real school, focused on the acquisition of language and the development of the child, " the Elysée Palace explained. Cloak and Data: The Real Story Behind Cambridge Analytica’s Rise and Fall...