Is the U.S. Becoming a Banana Republic?
Screen Shot of James Comey swearing-in at House Judiciary Committee meeting on why he did not recommend seeking an indictment for Hillary Clinton on July 7, 2016. James Comey has sullied … Read More
Month: September 2016
How to Form Your Personal Ideology
The Thinker in The Gates of Hell at the Musée Rodin Wikimedia Commons/Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, Paris, France The most sacred words any human being can utter are “I believe …”, The more … Read More
Hillary and The Donald On the Economy
Our sad choices: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump Photo Credits Left to Right: WikiMedia Commons/Voice of America, Wikimedia Commons/Michael Vadon On the day when Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are … Read More
Is Putin Secure?
The headquarters for the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) at Lubyanka Square in Moscow in the same building that used to be the HQ of the KGB. Wikimedia Commons/NVO There … Read More
Should Christians Be Stigmatized?
A symbol of hope or a symbol of ignorance and prejudice? FreeImages.com/abcdz2000 Christians have a great deal to fear in this world. In the Middle East, they have been marked … Read More
Economic Optimism Fading
The Wall Street Journal considers these three declining indicators as indicative of continuing economic stagnation. Wall Street Journal/Federal Reserve District Bank of St. Louis The Wall Street Journal has just … Read More
Hillary and The Donald: What a Choice!
Which to Choose? Photo Credits: CNN.com and CNN.com The choices we have for president, while … Read More
Iran: Existential Enemy of the West (among others)
On top, Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on January 23, 2016. On bottom, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani meeting with Russian President Vladimir … Read More
The Legacy of 9/11/2001
The North Face of Two World Trade Center (south tower) immediately after being struck by United Airlines Flight 175. Wikimedia Commons/Robert on Flickr It has been fifteen years to the … Read More
The Dirigiste Mind
Particularly notable dirigistes from the past. From top-left clockwise: King Louis XIV of France, Karl Marx, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini Image Credits from top-left clockwise: Wikimedia Commons/Louvre Museum, Wikimedia Commons/John Jabez … Read More
Is Russia Stable?
Moscow Victory Day Parade, 2015 Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru Russia is having increasingly difficult economic problems, as was discussed in my last post. A large part of the reason for that can … Read More
Russia’s Weaknesses
Constant Russian per capita GDP in 2010 US dollars (Blue curve) and its percent change from a year earlier (red curve). Image Credit: St. Louis Federal Reserve District Bank/FRED Data … Read More
Putin’s Purges
Der Russische Führer, Vladimir Putin Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Kremlin.ru ANDERS ÅSLUND has become an indispensable analyst of that “riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”, as Sir Winston Churchill … Read More