Greece makes up about two percent of the European Union's economic activity. A rough comparison may be the greater Miami area within the United States. Municipal mismanagement in Miami, of course, could not in one's wildest imaginings bring down the dollar. So how is it possible that the Greek debt...
86 Comments | Posted January 4, 2012 | 01/04/12 05:10 PM ET
The market for oil is a global market. Not perfectly homogenized, but global. So if the U.S. and Europe say that they plan to further "punish" Iran for its nuclear program by implementing a European boycott of Iranian oil or sanctions generally against those who buy Iranian oil, well, that's...
Posted May 2, 2011 | 05/02/11 02:35 AM ET
In 1917, the Congress passed, and the President signed, the Second Liberty Bond Act. Their intention was to help the Treasury Department better respond to rapidly changing World War I conditions when issuing government debt. For ninety four years that law has remained continually in effect, from time to time...
Posted April 11, 2011 | 04/11/11 05:27 PM ET
After a tough week, I collapsed in my leather recliner and drifted into a reverie. It smelled of wax, polish, sweat and stale cigar smoke. A voice spoke to me, "Uh, What are you doing in my bowling alley?" The voice belonged to none other than Richard Nixon. Somehow we...
Posted March 21, 2011 | 03/21/11 02:37 PM ET
Demonstrating the law of unintended consequences, the UN Security Council's Resolution 1973, adopted last Thursday evening, drew a swift response from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's government: it launched the battle for Benghazi. Further unintended consequences will surely follow the UN/NATO coalition's use of its brand new license for military force....
Posted March 7, 2011 | 03/07/11 05:44 PM ET
In the early phases of the Bosnian civil war I thought — wrongly, in retrospect — that the west had a narrow window of opportunity to throw in our lot with a genuinely multi-ethnic Bosnian government, to bring the war to a swift and just resolution. One of my mistakes...
Posted October 22, 2010 | 10/22/10 09:33 AM ET
The narrative arc of American history covers a singularly fierce struggle between the wealthy and the rest. Aside from brief interludes, the wealthy prevail. But that's not because of the peculiarities of American political culture, or the frequently smaller than real life character of our political leaders, or the continental...
Posted August 16, 2010 | 08/16/10 03:43 AM ET
Liberals should take care not to feign too much outrage against those who question birthright citizenship. The meaning of the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment — if one stops for a moment to think about it — did not, when it was ratified in 1868, absolutely, unambiguously, and unconditionally...
Posted November 27, 2009 | 11/27/09 09:44 PM ET
The rare resignation on principle is always telling in American government. When Matthew Hoh recently left the State Department -- a Marine Captain in Iraq who became a diplomat in Afghanistan -- his act was significant far beyond the first reports.
Hoh speaks grim truth to power. His message is...

2 Comments | Posted February 9, 2012 | 02/09/12 10:08 AM ET