Economic Honor Roll, The SMART FOLKS WHO SAW IT ALL COMING

This article is a companion piece to the "Economic Dishonor Role" of those who encouraged policies that allowed the 2008 financial crisis to happen. This article mentions those who warned that the policies would cause a financial disaster. They include Warren Buffet, Paul Krugman (whom we find out today has won the Nobel Prize in Economics), Nouriel Roubini, and others. According to Bill Moyer's Journal this week, George Soros also warned a crisis was coming.

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Book Review: The Way of the World

Title	The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism
Author	Ron Suskind
Rating
Tags	politics, world, pakistan, nuclear weapons, bush administration, intelligence
	This is a "big picture" book. It covers a large slice of the world, and builds up the large picture by creating a series of small pictures. The topic is power, how it is used and abused and in surprising ways is impotent. It is also about democratic ideals and how true America is to them, and how the rest of the world views them. One piece of the story is Benazir Bhutto, and how she began to understand democracy and move towareds it only to end in the tragedy of her death. Pakistan is a nexis point in the book. One story is that of a young Pakistani Muslim who lives in the US, and how he deals with issues of faith and democracy. Much of it concerns the intelligence community and the information they know or are desperately searching for, the information to prevent new attacks. One concentrates on finding out how much loose nuclear material there is, who is offering to sell it and who to buy it. Another met with the head of Iraqi intelligence in the months before the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and found out Saddam Hussein had no WMD. That same Iraqi was paid by the U.S. to forge a letter claiming the 9/11 hijackers were trained in Iraq and that there was a WMD program. It is a book where terror and freedom strive against each other. One of the goals of Al Quaeda is to get the U.S. to react in fear and against its own beliefs: "The aim of the al Quaeda leadership for the present phase of their campaign is not just to attack us. It is to try to create the impression throughout the Muslim world that a global struggle against oppression is under way in which violent jihad against us is a personal duty since, in their eyes, the policies of the U.S and its allies towards the Muslim world are incurably discriminatory and at heart colonial. Through constantly tempting us into over-reaction, they want to expose our values as fragile and hypocritical, suppressing civil rights at home and supporting apostate and repressive government overseas. We should recognize their motive as the well-understood tactic of the revolutionary through the ages, and not fall for it." (quote from David Omand, p. 198-199). in the end, Suskind sees hope in the longing for people from around the world to recreate the world and make it new and hopeful.
Publication	Harper (2008), Edition: 1, Hardcover, 432 pages
Publication date	2008
ISBN	0061430625 / 9780061430626

Book Review: Changeling

Title	Changeling (Sisters of the Moon, Book 2)
	Yasmine Galenorn
Tags	paranromal, urban fantasy, weres, witches, magick, dragons
	Second in Galenorn's Sisters of the Moon series, about three half-human half-faerie sisters. The first book was narrated by Camille, a witch. This one is narrated by Delilah, a werecat and private eye. Once again they have to foil the demon lord Shadow Wing who is looking for one of the spirit seals. In this case he uses a clan of werespiders who are killing a clan of werepumas who have the seal. It is a fun and magickal book, like the first one. The characters are well-drawn and quite varied, including the terrific Smokey the Dragon. Recommended.
Publication	Berkley (2007), Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages
Publication date	2007
ISBN	0425216292 / 9780425216293

Cristina Page: A Mom Before the Prom

Gives some of the real facts about teen pregnancy in the U.S. - that it is on the rise, and the severe difficulties faced by both the mothers and their children.

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Sam Stein: Obama, McCain Transition Efforts Are Worlds Apart

"As the 2008 campaign nears its conclusion, the presidential transition efforts of the two major candidates have become a study in contrasts: Sen. Barack Obama has organized an elaborate well-staffed network to prepare for his possible ascension to the White House, while Sen. John McCain has all but put off such work until after the election." This illustrates one of the reasons why I think we must elect Obama. He has struck me all along as one who is a careful thinker who plans well, and we really need that quality in a President who must face such serious challenges.

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Taking Hard New Look at a Greenspan Legacy

"The deregulation and use of derivatives long had a great supporter in the person of Alan Greenspan." Excellent New York Times article on derivatives, the main source of the current economic crisis, and Greenspan's policies toward them.

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Economics 101

Anyone who isn't interested in economics right now has ostrich DNA. We all are forced to pay attention to it. As I mentioned in the review for The Predator State by James K. Galbraith, I've come from not being interested in it and with little understanding to trying to find writers about the economy that I can (a) understand, and (b) trust for advice. My first is Paul Krugman, economist at Princeton and columnist for the New York Times. I was impressed, first of all, that he predicted the housing bubble. Therefore I read his column and blog assiduously and read his excellent history of politics and the economy since the Great Depression, Conscience of a Liberal.

Now I've read James Galbraith's The Predator State, and got some things out of it, including a respect for Galbraith's opinion. So I'm glad he is listed as one of Obama's advisors. At first I thought that Krugman was for the bailout bill and Galbraith was against it, but it seems they both don't like it at all but think it is necessary at this point to help stabilize the economy until a new Pesident takes office in January.

Today I watched a Bill Moyers Journal episode where he talked to Kevin Phillips, who has written on politics and the economy since the late 60s and has been quite prescient. He predicted, for example, the Republican ascendency that has remade politics since the 1970s. He also has a book I want to read, called Bad Money, that details how we got to our current economic situation. He is rather a "plague on both your houses" type, apportioning blame to both Republicans and Democrats. He highly dislikes Democrat Robert Rubin, for example, but dislikes even more the Republicans. As for the current election, he doesn't think well of Obama, who has Rubin as one of his advisers, but thinks McCain would be a disaster, and has a real hate on for Phil Gramm.

If you read this, please share where you get economic advice.