Reasonable thinking and new ideas.A blog about a varitey of topics: politics, government, philosophy, news, etc.
“[W]ith that responsibility comes accountability. Egypt isn’t an easy country to run. If the Muslim Brotherhood doesn’t produce, it’ll be blamed, and the Islamists will be discredited…But paradoxically, having acquired power, Morsi and the brothers are now vulnerable to their own success. They now must govern, manage and produce. And to do that effectively in a country like Egypt is no small achievement…
The brothers may have maneuvered themselves into the worst of all possible situations.”
-Jacob Heilbrunn (via NationalInterest.org)
Ironically, the Muslim Brotherhood -an organization with many undemocratic beliefs- has been elected to built an Egyptian democracy. The Brotherhood is now faced with the monumental task of rebuilding Egypt after decades of misrule. If they are to be successful -assuming success is possible- they will have to engage in compromise. This places two clear paths before the Brotherhood: compromise or ideological purity. Which path they choose will have lasting impacts on Egyptian society, and will serve as a judgment upon the supposed transformative powers of democracy.
How our tax code is messed up in one chart
This graph compares taxes paid by individuals and corporations. It show us a few things. First, the overall trend shown here is a divergence between individual and corporate tax revenues. Secondly, revenue from individual taxes have rebounded substantially since 2008, meanwhile revenue from corporate taxes are still significantly lower. More of the tax burden is being pushed away from corporations and onto individuals like you and me. Worst of all, this is happening during a time when corporate profits are soaring and wages are stagnant.
In this post I continue my thinking on the topic of world government, but I shift from politics to economics.
The Supreme Court handed down this ruling without even listening to arguments.
This law conflicted with the SCOTUS decision in ‘Citizens United’ and therefore could not be allowed to stand. The fact that the court ruled without a hearing arguments indicates that questioning their ‘wise’ judgment will also not be allowed.
“Whereas the austerity-based plan had been ruinous for the PIGS as well as for the E.U. itself and the euro, using the crisis as leverage with which to get state officials past their conflict of interest in willingly giving up power may have been necessary to save the union.” (via the Worden Report)
An interesting take on Europe’s situation and the way forward.
A blog post about my thoughts on world government and order. Could a world government secure the ‘blessings of liberty’ for everyone?
Ideas on Fixing the Eurozone
A number of stories about the future of the eurozone have been written. These are five that I found particularly interesting.
“Three steps to resolving the eurozone crisis,” George Soros, Financial Times.
“Three Easy Steps Could Put An End To This Crisis This Weekend,” Jim O’Neil, Business Insider.
“Five Steps to Solving Europe’s Debt Crisis,” Peter Thal Larsen, The New York Times.
“How to solve European debt crisis? Create a European treasury to back EU bonds,” Jacques Attali and Haris Pamboukis, The Christian Science Monitor.
“How to Save the Eurozone in Few Easy Steps,” Vihar Georgiev, European Union Law.
These articles offer a variety of ideas that could go a long way to fixing Europe’s problems. Although there seems to be an agreement on a few:
An look at how technology increases productivity, job polarization, and may be holding back a real recovery.
