Question: Why do more economists lean towards the right wing?
Answer: Economists lean right because they understand economics.
Assuming that “right wing” means an ideological position that favors free enterprise, private property and individual rights, then it is easy to see why economists are generally right-wingers. Continue reading “Economists”
On the matter of the war in Ukraine, one of my favorite historians, Stephen Kotkin, is my go-to person. Here’s Peter Robinson of the Hoover Institution in conversation with Kotkin.
This is from March 4th, when the Russian invasion was just eight days old. Kotkins places it in its historical context. Although 80 minutes long, it is worth every minute and more. Continue reading “Stephen Kotkin on Ukraine”
Should the US intervene? No. Here’s why.
People are sometimes surprisingly good. This is heartwarming. Rescue of ducklings from a storm water drain.
I am off to the old country on Friday night (Eastern time), arriving at Bangalore on Sunday morning.
(I have the picture above as my desktop background. Click on image to embiggen.)
“The voting public cannot understand foreign policy, so the electorate cannot hold the government accountable in any meaningful way. That being the situation, what are the incentives for a democratically elected government to conduct a foreign policy beneficial for the nation? Who should hold the government accountable in matters of foreign policy? And how?”
This post is in response to the above and other comments to the previous AMA post. In Prabhu Desai‘s response, he noted that government is an abstraction and not a real entity which has goals and incentives. In reality what we call the government is just a bunch of people, and people have various goals and motivations. The people who constitute the government can be broadly classified as politicians (who are periodically elected) and bureaucrats (who are unelected and enjoy lengthy tenures.) Continue reading “Government”
Life is a Random Draw 