Nobody in their right mind should care how many houses John McCain has. Nor should they give a damn where Barack Obama went to church. None of the things that people are talking about ad nauseam leading up to this election matter in the slightest.
Here, in my opinion, are what matters:
1. The economy,
2. Foreign relations,
3. The ongoing wars,
4. Energy,
5. Trimming the power of the Executive branch and federal government.
For me, the economy is tops. I have been so far underwhelmed by both candidates: Barack Obama seems to think you can tax your way out of a recession, and John McCain's plan seems to be, "just keep doing what we're doing, only moreso". So, my plan has been, whoever wins, to start drinking heavily.
But, since the economy is so important, this David Leonhardt article about Obama's economic thinking, strikes me as the most important thing I've read on the election so far. Surprise! Obama's economic thinking is pretty complicated.
Please read it and we can discuss it. I know it's eight freakin' pages! But, it's interesting.
I've also sent it to a relative who is a CFO at one of the world's leading corporate accounting and economics firms. He knows this stuff inside and out, and will hopefully be able to tell us if he thinks Obama's head is in the right place. He's also a Canuck and not leaning one way or the other, so hopefully he can give a more "fair and balanced" reading than me.
2 comments:
I nearly threw this down at the end of the first paragraph. But I'll persevere. The cause of my ire?
But the root cause is simple
enough. In some fundamental ways, the American economy has stopped
working.
That is not a root cause. That's the problem. A root cause - it should not be explained to a well paid writer at the NYT - is the reason for the failure.
I understand. I tend to direct my ire towards people confusing further and farther.
It's interesting- the economy is actually working well in a lot of ways. It's just not doing so for very many people. But the resources are still there and there is economy growth.
I have to admit that I've only gotten through the first few pages. Classes just started this week.
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