Ask any question about geopolitics, broadly defined. We — and others reading the FM website — will attempt to answer it in the comments. Like Jeopardy, your comments must be in the form of a question! All answers welcomed!
Questions received so far (click on the link to go directly to that thread):
- Would it be better to join a party you largely agree with and try to make it stronger, or would it be better to join the party you disagree with and try to reform it?
- A question about the sustainability of national debt.
- How would you rate the Republican’s Presidential candidates in terms of their policies?
- Why can’t/won’t nations cancel their debt?
- What are your thoughts on the recent peak oil conference and the conclusions the presenters gave?
- An Australian shares his perspective on American’s view of the EU (and health care).
- What about Obama administration’s new “Pacific Policy” – in particular the new US military presence in Darwin, Australia?
- A too-complex question about the US political economy.
- Would you agree that our current strategy and tactics in Afghanistan closely resemble those we applied in Vietnam, and that the end result will be the same?
Some interesting reading to start the discussion
- The most important article of the year, from one of America’s finest outlets for journalism: “How the GOP Became the Party of the Rich“, Tim Dickenson, Rolling Stone, 9 November 2011 — “The inside story of how the Republicans abandoned the poor and the middle class to pursue their relentless agenda of tax cuts for the wealthiest one percent.”
- Why we cannot cut Federal spending — and don’t know where it goes: “The Biomedical Lobby” Daniel S. Greenberg, London Review of Books, 14 November 2011 — And FYI, we pay for most drug research; drug company revenue goes to profits and sales.
- A contender for dumbest thing in the NYT this week: “To Save Our Economy, Ditch Taiwan“, Paul Kane, op-ed in the New York Times, 10 November 2011 — For a rebuttal (smackdown) see this by Patrick Chovanec (Prof Economics, Tsinghua U in Beijing).
- “In health care, the US is on a different planet“, Austin Frakt (bio), The Incidental Economist (by experts in health care), 15 November 2011
- Another volly in the climate wars (the real ones, among scientists): “Are secular correlations between sunspots, geomagnetic activity, and global temperature significant?“, Love, J. J., K. Mursula, V. C. Tsai, and D. M. Perkins, Geophysical Research Letters, 11 November 2011
- The best analysis I’ve seen yet of the new IAEA report about Iran’s nuke program: “Old News“, Norman Dombey, London Review of Books, 15 November 2011
- Most naïve article of the week (I hope I’m wrong): “Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto Cracks Open the Financial Crisis“, Matt Stoller, Naked Capitalism, 17 November 2011
