May 22, 2007
Why Should Halliburton Have to Suffer?
“Democrats accepted a GOP plan to establish 18 benchmarks….If Iraqis fall short, they could forfeit U.S. reconstruction aid.” Washington Post
DKo: Forfeit U.S. reconstruction aid!
Why should Halliburton have to suffer for Iraqi failures? We know that $16 billion in US reconstruction aid has provided negligible benefit to Iraqis. This won’t hurt them. But Halliburton will face severe hardship. Securing contracts is their core competence. Take that away and you leave them with nothing. [WP Article]
If we learned anything from Katrina, it is that people who are already in misery have little to complain about. We continue to learn that even years later. Well, who is more already miserable than the Iraqis!
But if Halliburton is thrown to the wolves, who bid for contracts and carp about performance, nobody is truly safe. Not even the wealthiest, who have so terribly far to fall, and so terribly much to lose—not even they are sure of being spared. They could be treated unconscionably, as if they were themselves Iraqis, for God’s sake. It breaks your heart.
Where the humanitarians now!
May 10, 2007
"The Constant Gardener"
I have just seen a beautiful film, “The Constant Gardener.” (Based on a John LeCarre novel, it is both a thriller and a love story. Rachel Weisz won the Oscar for her role.)
I remember years ago seeing the definitive James Bond farce “Our Man Flint,” and laughing myself silly at the punch-line of the plot. The villain was not a government at all, nor even a phantasm like 007’s SPECTRE, but a private company, The Phone Company. What a laugh that was! What a lark!
In “The Constant Gardener,” the villain is again a private company—a pharmaceutical giant inflicting fraudulent, deadly drug testing on poor people in Kenya, then murderously suppressing the truth about this practice. And now it is not incongruous at all, no longer What a lark! Now, it is Of course! Of course these bastards will stop at nothing in their callousness and greed.
Now, we know better. I didn’t laugh myself silly at this film. That silliness is gone, and I am sadder for it. It is a time of bitter laughter. The loathsome and outrageous have turned commonplace. Cover-up? Mass graves, a private company, government complicity? Of course.
—David
May 8, 2007
Two year olds!
Despite warnings, most U.S. babies watch TV Reuters, 5/7/07
About 90 percent of U.S. children under age 2…are regular watchers of television…
Two year olds! It’s like talking to a wall. You warn them and warn them, but they just won’t listen!
May 6, 2007
Economics Joke
Here’s a tip. It won’t make you a fortune, but it’ll be well worth your while.
Take a look at the dollar bills in your wallet. To the right of George Washington (the first President of the United Sates), and downward and leftward of the round green seal, you will see a date. Most of your bills will say “SERIES 2003 A.” But you’ll still find a few that date back to “SERIES 1999.”
Hang on to them! Any sophisticated economist will tell you that, because of inflation, 1999 dollars are worth considerably more than 2003 dollars. Do this consistently. Over time, you’ll find that little extra effort adds up to a tidy sum.
I figure as long as I have my expertise in economics, I might as well share it with my friends.
—David