I can’t keep up with all the ways in which this administration is failing. From the health care restructuring proposals gone sour, to the slippage in Iraq and Afghanistan,...
Not Too Early For “I Told You So”
The day before the presidential election, when Barack Obama’s victory seemed all but certain, I predicted that I would be able to say “I told you so” about what lay ahead:
When this bubble bursts, I will be able to say “I told you so.” Unfortunately, by that point in time, the...
Groupthink, Obama, The Media, and “I Told You So”
Robert Shiller’s recent article, Challenging the Crowd in Whispers, Not Shouts, addresses the phenomenon of Groupthink in understanding speculative economic bubbles. Groupthink is a concept developed by Yale psychologist Irving L. Janis to understand why “experts” fail to speak out publicly to warn that the speculative bubble will burst. As described...
Couldn’t Have Said it Better Myself
Similar to my post Obama Is Door No. 2, Fouad Ajami in his great article in The Wall Street Journal, Obama and the Politics of Crowds, points out that the hysteria in favor of Barack Obama long ago passed the stage of irrationality:
On the face of it, there is nothing overwhelmingly...
Fear Stalks The Land
I created this blog after a conversation with a good friend of mine, someone I respect tremendously for his personal strength under pressure. The topic turned to politics (he brought it up), and we had quite the argument (still friends) over the election. My friend supports Obama, and was shocked that...
Obama is “Door No. 2”
The presidential election of 2008 is still three weeks away. By all likely measures, Barack Obama will win. It’s not a foregone conclusion, but a strong likelihood.
Many people point to the recent economic turmoil as the reason for Obama’s rise. In the short run, that theory is correct. Voter anger at...