The President sees trade imbalances as something that is "not fair". The problem is that the USA is the richest country so it obviously can afford to import more than anyone else. And what is especially weird is that he has also placed tariffs on countries where the US has a trade surplus. This is …
The Rule of Law
The Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court may hold President Trump in contempt and the president may ignore it. That is the state of the "Rule of Law" - a broad concept of how the USA is governed. Three branches of Government that are equal. Except when they are not. Congress is not acting …
The Motivations of Capital
The tragedy of the LA wildfires and their destructive hell has been a horror story waiting to happen. Buildings that are vulnerable and adjacent to other buildings that are vulnerable mean that whole districts lost all their residences. The outcome was always possible and the combination of wind conditions, the growth of vegetation and trees …
Post Democracy
Democracy does not work. Never did.Democracy is intended to limit power and stop demagoguery. Then populism activated prejudice in the "silent majority" and propaganda promoted ideas that are simply untrue. By gaining democratic agreement with ideas that benefit corporation and the very wealthy, the majority are choosing structural change that does not benefit them because …
Economic Headwinds
The state of the stock market is a multiplier of value due to speculative expectation. The rate cut seems very important as it signals that the relatively short period of supply side inflation has finally resolved so the money supply can increase (i.e. new debt can fund more activity).I am no expert but believe that …
The Grate Dictator
The model of appealing to populism, to lie and grasp power as if it belonged to a single person and hunt down and imprison your personal enemies has been done before. I think the most egregious example of this form of power was attempted by an Austrian named Adolf, but the most successful was probably …
Preparing for Proportional Representation
The UK has a journey to arrive at a place where PR could be a possibility. This election probably is not going to open up that opportunity, unless the Labour Party have some hidden agenda. The main threat is not really the Conservative Party which has shot itself in both feet, but the Reform party …
The economy of AGI
We attempt to build a machine that is self aware? Is this really what we should invest ourselves in? Or is there a more effective path? AI is only a machine. It has no “self”. We have a “self” but are we prepared to invest in ourselves at the same level as we invest in …
Elections in the West
It is a year of elections. The ones I have been focused on are in the Western world: the US election, and now the UK snap election. In both, the "sensible" vote seems to be on the Left. This is not because the Left is brilliant or even appropriate medicine to these great mature economies. …
The Cracks in Democracy
The British Parliament is one of the oldest parliamentary democracies in the modern world. But the system of democracy combined with tradition has perverted the course of fair law making. The problem is that "robust debate" now regularly incorporates a Government that attacks the opposition for what "it would do" instead of actually making good …