An Empire of Sentimentality
December 16, 2008 8:06 pm

Matthew Yglesias

.....The Iraqi people didn’t ask to be liberarted conquered and occupied by a foreign power that destroyed their country and then immediately set about meddling in Iraqi politics and until just a month or so ago was struggling mightily for the right to permanently station military forces on Iraqi soil contrary to the will of the Iraqi public. Not only did Iraqis not ask for such services, but nobody anywhere has ever asked for them.

The harsh reality is that this was not a noble undertaking done for good reasons. It was a criminal enterprise launched by madmen cheered on by a chorus of fools and cowards. And it’s seen as such by virtually everyone all around the world — including but by no means limited to the Arab world. But it’s impolitic to point this out in the United States.......

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ZIRP!
December 16, 2008 8:08 pm

Paul Krugman

That’s zero interest rate policy. And it has arrived. America has turned Japanese.

This is the thing I’ve been afraid of ever since I realized that Japan really was in the dreaded, possibly mythical liquidity trap. You can read my 1998 Brookings Paper on the issue here.

Incidentally, there were a bunch of us at Princeton worrying about the Japan problem in the early years of this decade. I was one; Lars Svensson, currently at Sweden’s Riksbank, was another; a third was a guy named Ben Bernanke. I wonder whatever happened to him?

Seriously, we are in very deep trouble. Getting out of this will require a lot of creativity, and maybe some luck too.

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Will The Madoff Debacle Finally End The ---- "Who Could Have Known?" ---- Era?
December 16, 2008 9:33 pm

Arianna Huffington

See if this sounds familiar:

An ambitious and risky undertaking carried out with hubris, and featuring the weeding out of anyone who raises alarm bells, little-to-no transparency, an oversight system in which no central authority is accountable, and the deliberate manufacturing of ambiguity and complexity so that if -- when -- it all falls to pieces, the excuse "who could have known?" can be used....

Is it Iraq? Fannie Mae? Citigroup? Bernie Madoff?

The correct answer is: all of the above.

When you look at the elements that were crucial to the creation of each of these debacles, it's amazing how much in common they all have. And not just in how they began but in how they ended: with those responsible being amazed at what happened, because...who could have known? Well, to paraphrase James Inhofe, I'm amazed at the amazement.

In fact, when historians look for a name that sums up the Bush II years, they could do worse than calling them The "Who Could Have Known?" Era.

Each of the disasters listed above was entirely predictable. And, indeed, was predicted. But those who rang the alarm bells were aggressively ignored, which is why it's important that we not let those responsible get away with the "Who Could Have Known?" excuse.

Let's start with Iraq.........

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Deflation
December 17, 2008 10:27 pm

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Is Retired UAW Autoworker Dad Public Enemy No. 1?
December 21, 2008 5:50 pm

When you think of “Public Enemy No. 1,” you picture a Depression-era John Dillinger or maybe the UniBomber. But David R. Radtke says he has learned some shocking news—his dad, a retired UAW autoworker, might fit that bill.

Says Radtke:

“I have a confession. My father is an autoworker. I know that some people will recoil in disgust upon learning that fact, but it gets worse—he’s a retired UAW autoworker, and he and my mother live on a pension and have retiree health care benefits that supplement Medicare. In other words, he is public enemy No. 1 to Sens. Richard Shelby, Bob Corker and Jim DeMint.

“According to these senators, my dad and his cadre of active and retired UAW-represented autoworkers are responsible for this country’s economic downturn.”

“According to these senators, my dad and his cadre of active and retired UAW-represented autoworkers are responsible for this country’s economic downturn.”

In a new AFL-CIO guest column, Radtke, a Michigan attorney and member of the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee, describes the dastardly exploits that marked his high school-educated, blue collar father’s life—30 years of working his tail off, taking care of his family, educating his kids and earning a well-deserved retirement.

He says his dad and millions of other hardworking men and women like his father are despised and attacked by the right, sometimes the left, the rich and even poor in “America’s version of class warfare.”

His dad’s life, Radtke says, has really been the embodiment of the American Dream.

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