Fabius Maximus
Financial Crisis in America
Michael Yon
Great Powers: America and the World After BushThis has been busy week for me, I have final papers coming in from two classes, so my blogging will be curtained until they are properly graded and responded too. In lieu of that, I have created a sort of online Sunday paper to point visitors to blogs with interesting and timely posts.
Fabius Maximus opens with two posts. He has been active in offering solutions for solving the current financial crisis and this is the latest in a long series of thought provoking posts.
New recommendations to solve our financial crisis (and I admit that I was wrong)
Fabius begins:
Parts 1 and 2 are being implemented, much as described. Part 3 was described as necessary at some point in the future. I said that these probably would not work over the medium to long term, but would mitigate the downturn (slow or even reduce the economic decline, and alleviate the resulting suffering). It appears that I was wrong.
The rate of decline — destabilization of the global financial system – has become so great that these measures will prove insufficient. In my opinion (these are, of course, guesses). Since I doubt our leaders have a Plan B, here is a suggestion:
The rate of decline — destabilization of the global financial system – has become so great that these measures will prove insufficient. In my opinion (these are, of course, guesses). Since I doubt our leaders have a Plan B, here is a suggestion:
We need extreme mobilization by the government of our economic resources, as we have done during wars.
This Fab post raises interesting observations about the global warming issue that has graced our national conscious for the better of two decades.
He opens his post with.
Evidence continues to trickle in that we need not fear global temperatures rising to ruinous levels. Anthony Watts provides a reality check at his invaluable site “What’s Up with That?“ This is the same material, reformatted and condensed — with some additional material to give a better context. As always, I recommend reading the full articles.
Good news about global warming!
Turning to the world stage and war news. Small Wars Journal as usual does a superlative job of covering the latest with their concise daily roundups and informative blog discussion links. Here is a post that stood out for it's demonstration of timeless wisdom.
John M. Collins began to amass military experience when he enlisted in the Army as a private in 1942. Thirty years and three wars later, in 1972, he retired as a colonel. He spent the next quarter century as the leading analyst on military and defense issues at the Congressional Research Service. Many of us address him as Warlord.
Collins offers this introduction.
Alice in Wonderland asked the Cheshire Cat, "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
The answer was, "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to."
The Honorable Les Aspin, as Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, asked much the same question on 9 October 1985 when he held hearings entitled "What Have We Got for a Trillion dollars?"
The world has changed a lot since then, when the US-Soviet military balance was still center stage, but structured ways of appraising national security problems and potential solutions have not. I'm therefore resurrecting my 23-year-old testimony for reconsideration, because it deals with a flock of fundamentals that the new Administration might usefully apply in its quest for ways to match military ends, ways, and means most successfully. Mismatches between forces and objectives, forces and threats, forces and strategies, forces and other forces remain prominent today.
I recommend taking the time to read all of John Collin's testimony, it is timeless in it's wisdom.
This is just in from the blogsosphere's most intrepid war correspondent, Michael Yon.
Brother, Can You Spare an Afghani? and Jurassic Trailer Park These articles serves a duel purpose of reporting the war and representing our Travel Section. Yon files a revealing photo essay and story that begins with the following observation.
Traveling along the roads of Afghanistan (when there are roads) provides a different perspective on life back home. Folks in the U.S. are worried about the economy, and while I can understand that many are struggling, it’s easy to forget how much we still have. In Afghanistan, and other countries all over the world, there are many people who literally beg for their next meals.
No Sunday paper would be complete with out it's OP-ED page. Continuing a Sunday tradition Thomas Barnett files this column.
There is an old Washington saying that "where you stand depends on where you sit," meaning policy views correlate to bureaucratic position.
This is worth remembering as General David Petraeus begins his strategy review of Afghanistan. Those looking for an instant replay of his counterinsurgency tactics in Iraq will be disappointed.
No Sunday news would be complete without a financial page and Martin Wolf writing in the Financial Times has this to say about the banking crisis.
He begins:
The worst consequences of the banking crisis – a true depression – have been avoided. But the impact of the implosion of what economist Nouriel Roubini calls “the largest leveraged asset bubble and credit bubble in history” is hitting real economies hard,
Closing out this Sunday Edition is our book corner where Zenpundit has this teaser on pending book reviews.
Reading…. Where Zen give hints of three of the latest books he is devouring.
And The AntiLibrary is available for those who are looking for more reviews.
Thanks for taking the time drop by. I hope you find the articles as thought provoking and informative as I did.
