The Economic Stimulus: Obama, Samuelson, and Keynes- Overhauling A Nonexistent Healthcare System? Middle East Media Rants on Gaza, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and First Cat India
Middle East Media- Gaza, Bahrain, a pussy cat and the rest:“UNRWA suspends its operation in Gaza, and Palestinian victims exceed 756 dead….” Alarabiya
“New UN Security Council resolution: a new page between America and the Arabs.” al-Hayat Referring to the US not vetoing the Gaza ceasefire resolution: the US abstained this time and the resolution passed. But there is no ceasefire yet.
“The shameful culture of surrender: some Egyptian government decisions are hard to understand, like banning more than one hundred doctors from various parts of the world, some of them Egyptians, from entering Gaza to treat the thousands of wounded. We would understand if these were members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards or of Hezbullah…but they are just doctors trying to help….” alQuds alArabi, published from the safety of London.
“Night has darkened this kingdom, and the hands of corruption have wreaked havoc. The hands of greed and avarice have stolen much of the bounty of this land. Most of the people live on the margin because of the hungry beasts of prey. Greed has no bounds here. The greedy are numerous in our country, but I only need use one example here: Minister of the Royal Court (Shaikh) Khalid Bin Ahmad al-Khalifa who has taken over a huge tract of land, 5 million square meters for himself and his brothers. And to cover up his deed he has registered the land in the name of a foreign company. That was not all, his greed knows no bounds: he has also started to appropriate other lands. Public lands that he subdivides and sells to poor Bahrainis……The country has become a den of robbery, greed, spying, denying people privacy, imprisonment, all led by our former ambassador to London, our current head of National Security Khalifa Bin Abdullah al-Khalifa, as well as Ahmad Atiyyatallah al-Khalifa, and the suspicious colonel Adel Khalifa al-Fadhil.” Ghada Jamshir, Bahrain Women's Rights activist, President of the Women’s List of Bahrain, (not sure about my translation of her title here) Aafaq
I wonder how long will the brave lady remain out of prison, if she is still out of prison after this. Lucky for her she is not just an unknown anybody.
“Saudi writer and political activist has criticized a public statement by the Saudi ministry of education in the heavily Shi’a region of al-a’hsaa (Eastern Province) banning all Shi’a staff and teachers from taking vacations during the month of Muharram (which is especially holy to the Shi’as)….” Aafaq. Now he better be outside the kingdom of virtue, otherwise he will end up in prison, at least.
Arab oligarchs eulogize a departed pussy cat:
“With heavy hearts, the press office of American First Lady Laura Bush has announced the passing away last Sunday of the family cat at the age of 18. Spokeswoman Sally McDonald said that ‘India’ was a beloved member of the Bush family for almost two decades and will leave many sweet memories with the family (and perhaps some scratches).The death of the ‘princess’ comes only two weeks before the end of Bush’s term, and who knows, it is possible the cat was heart-broken over having to leave the White House.
“Based on that I suggest to all Arab leaders who are certain to feel sad for the Bush tragedy, even though their soft hearts did not stir for the ‘martyrdom’ of hundreds in Gaza, I suggest they flock to Washington to personally present condolences. And in order to show true friendly relations, not as stooges and satraps, as some wrongly claim, they should participate with a delegation representing the Arab League, and lower all Arab flags to half mast. They should also remember that too much depression over the departure of Bush can lead to death, God willing, as India’s demise has shown.” al-Qabas
I agree, that last 'piece' was quite silly, Like many of our newspaper writings and blog like this one. It sounds even sillier in the original Arabic, but its author makes a point that many hold in the Middle East.
The closet supply siders?
Businesses can’t be bribed to hire more workers. If there is no demand for their products, they will not hire more labor, not even at their outsourced plants in China, India and Malaysia. Demand needs to be ramped up quickly and significantly first.
I knew that even while I was studying the late Paul Samuelson, RIP in economic heaven, (the Economics book for freshmen, not the Foundations of Economic Analysis): no growth in demand= no increase in supply. Who the hell are they going to sell to? (Read Schaum’s outline of the good TGT book by John Maynard Keynes, if indeed there is one).
The other explanation for this tax credit part in the stimulus package was indicated by the gleeful looks on Republican faces and the near orgasmic excitement (if at all possible) of Larry Kudlow. Even Arthur Laffer made a cameo appearance on the media, and he was almost laffing. Maybe it was a political move to get bi-partisan approval for more serious policies.
Still, he won’t get their approval for such mush needed things as overhaul of the national healthcare system (there is no such thing as a national healthcare system in the US, how can you overhaul what doesn't exist?). Fortunately, he may not need their votes, perhaps one or two Maine senators will do in case of a filibuster. Besides, these are the people who screwed up big time when they were in power.
Except this bill is extremely serious, way beyond politics and ideology, way beyond playing politics and trying to balance factions that are mostly focused on November 2010. Friday’s labor data will show how fast unemployment is rising and tax credits will not reverse that.
Cheers
mhg
m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com
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BTW: where the hell is Bin Laden?
Bin who? Oh him: but he, like, is so 2001-2004! Besides, John McCain never got his chance to go after him, to the gates of hell, which just about describes Waziristan or whatever Pashtun land he is at.The closet supply siders?
Businesses can’t be bribed to hire more workers. If there is no demand for their products, they will not hire more labor, not even at their outsourced plants in China, India and Malaysia. Demand needs to be ramped up quickly and significantly first.
I knew that even while I was studying the late Paul Samuelson, RIP in economic heaven, (the Economics book for freshmen, not the Foundations of Economic Analysis): no growth in demand= no increase in supply. Who the hell are they going to sell to? (Read Schaum’s outline of the good TGT book by John Maynard Keynes, if indeed there is one).
The other explanation for this tax credit part in the stimulus package was indicated by the gleeful looks on Republican faces and the near orgasmic excitement (if at all possible) of Larry Kudlow. Even Arthur Laffer made a cameo appearance on the media, and he was almost laffing. Maybe it was a political move to get bi-partisan approval for more serious policies.
Still, he won’t get their approval for such mush needed things as overhaul of the national healthcare system (there is no such thing as a national healthcare system in the US, how can you overhaul what doesn't exist?). Fortunately, he may not need their votes, perhaps one or two Maine senators will do in case of a filibuster. Besides, these are the people who screwed up big time when they were in power.
Except this bill is extremely serious, way beyond politics and ideology, way beyond playing politics and trying to balance factions that are mostly focused on November 2010. Friday’s labor data will show how fast unemployment is rising and tax credits will not reverse that.
Cheers
mhg
m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com
Adsense:
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