Posts Tagged ‘Barack Obama’
March 13, 2013
The Problem with Charm Offensives: If They Are Needed, They Have Already Failed
Faced by insurmountable odds as the Carthaginians swept down the Italian peninsula during the Second Punic War, the Roman general Fabius Maximus simply retreated and retreated, wearing the opposition down by declining to engage with them at all. Watching the Republicans play the President right now, the scorched earth policy that the Romans used […] read more »
Posted in US Blog |
March 12, 2013
America in Trouble
First posted on the Comment page of the Sheffield Political Economy Research Institite (SPERI) website, University of Sheffield, UK Watching the economic policy debate in both Washington and London is a deeply frustrating experience. read more »
Posted in UK Blog, US Blog |
February 25, 2013
Going beyond the President’s Manufacturing Strategy
Amid the urgency of the sequestration crisis, many things of substance are likely to fade into the background of public debate – at exactly the moment when they should not. read more »
Posted in US Blog |
February 6, 2013
Waiting for the State of the Union Address
SOTU addresses at the start of a second presidential term are relatively rare phenomena, and in recent times they have also been also relatively ephemeral ones. George W. Bush used his SOTU Address in 2005 to make a prolonged pitch for the partial privatization of Social Security.[1] That pitch went nowhere. read more »
Posted in US Blog |
January 21, 2013
Second Inauguration: Third Growth Model?
Half-way points in two-term presidencies are inevitably moments to take stock and to consider redirections of policy. Right now, the political blogosphere is properly full of that stocktaking and redesign. Lists abound on policies needed[1] and priorities to be pushed,[2] which is why there is no need to add to those lists in any […] read more »
Posted in US Blog |
January 5, 2013
A Progressive Second Term? (II) Possibilities
Two previous recent postings[1] explored the parameters and the prerequisites for a progressive second presidential term for Barack Obama. Each of those postings triggered three broad responses from a largely skeptical audience. read more »
Posted in US Blog |
January 2, 2013
A Progressive Second Term? (I) Prerequisites
Amid the scampering up and down the fiscal cliff that now dominates political life in Washington, some more important and basic questions are in danger of vanishing from view, questions about the general character and progressive potential of Barack Obama’s second term. Questions such as these. Will this Administration in the end prove to […] read more »
Posted in US Blog |
December 19, 2012
The Fiscal Cliff, the Republicans and the Ghost of Christmas Past
Co-authored with Don Frey[1] As reports thicken of a possible deal between the White House and the House Republicans – a deal which will supposedly avoid the rest of us going over some fiscal cliff on January 1 – it is worth remembering at least four reasons why such a deal is probably […] read more »
Posted in US Blog |
December 5, 2012
Obama at Half-Time: The Big Question
Public conversation in and around Washington D.C. is currently preoccupied with the question of the fiscal cliff. And rightly so, for very big things are at stake. Not least whether or not a political crisis will tip the economy back into recession, and whether an election result that mandated a tax increase on the […] read more »
Posted in US Blog |
November 15, 2012
Ensuring that the “Grand Bargain” is genuinely a Bargain.
It is lobbying week in Washington DC. Tuesday was labor’s day at the White House. Wednesday it was the turn of the business community. Friday it will be the usual politicians – Boehner, Cantor, McConnell, Pelosi, Reid – in other words, the usual political gridlock masquerading as democracy in action.[1] read more »
Posted in US Blog |
