The Guardian, the voice of the left-wing British establishment, has published a media guide for readers who would like to understand American conservatism while minimizing their contact with actual conservatives. The writer is Jason Wilson, an Australian who lives in Portland, Oregon, so you know he’s really in touch with the big, hot-blooded heart of America. Wilson writes:
Since Trump elevated Steve Bannon to be his Karl Rove, several of you have pressed me to say what I think of him. It has been framed as, “Now that Trump will be bringing such a berserk bigot into the White House, you are obliged to denounce them all. What’s taking you so long?”
Authored by Steve H. Hanke of The Johns Hopkins University. Follow him on Twitter @Steve_Hanke.
The United States has recorded a trade deficit in each year since 1975. This is not surprising. After all, we spend more than we save, and this deficit is financed via a virtually unlimited U.S. line of credit with the rest of the world. In short, foreigners in countries that save more than they spend (read: record trade surpluses) ship the U.S. funds to finance America’s insatiable spending appetites.
Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,
Public displays of empty gestures are no substitute for action.
Politics is the art of the symbolic gesture. The successful symbolic gesture gains gravitas by crystallizing a narrative that attracts a consensus that then powers policies of substance.
Over the weekend we reported that as Obama was speaking at the APEC summit in Peru, hoping to salvage his global trade legacy, the TPP, China's President Xi Jinping officially called for the launch of the Free Trade Area of Asia-Pacific for "institutional guarantee of open economy", a move many had expected would take place as China was eager to fill in the void left by the US in any trans-Pacific trade treaty.