Once upon a time, there was a hedge fund named Hermitage Capital. Its head was Bill Browder, and it had the clever idea, back during the Yeltsin Administration, of investing Western capital in Russia. It worked spectacularly well, until it didn’t: Browder is a smart guy. He made a lot of money and managed to [...]
Archive for the ‘Labor Policy’ Category
Home Court Advantage
Posted in China, Corruption, Dick Cheney, Energy Policy, Foreigners, France, Labor Policy, Meltdown, Middle East, Military, Obama, Russia on October 16, 2009 | 5 Comments »
College and Debt
Posted in Education, Finance, Football, Foreigners, Housing Policy, Labor Policy, Transportation Policy on October 15, 2009 | 6 Comments »
Mike Konczal has an interesting post that is popping up all over the place (here, here, and here, and probably somewhere else by now) analyzing a throwaway human interest piece on a woman named Karen King from the Wall Street Journal: Her biggest chunk of debt, $26,000, stems from student loans to pay for her [...]
Market v Business
Posted in Ben Bernanke, Corruption, George W. Bush, Labor Policy, Meltdown, Obama, Tim Geithner on October 14, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Luigi Zingales has an excellent article for National Affairs that tries to place what has been so special about the American economic system…and why it is particularly vulnerable today: Capitalism has long enjoyed exceptionally strong public support in the United States because America’s form of capitalism has long been distinct from those found elsewhere in [...]
American Superalloy
Posted in Health Care, Immigration, Industrial Policy, Labor Policy, Mexico, Politics on October 13, 2009 | 8 Comments »
Luis Gutierrez is leading a rally in DC to argue for comprehensive immigration reform. We simply cannot wait any longer for a bill that keeps our families together, protects our workers and allows a pathway to legalization for those who have earned it…We need a bill that says if you come here to hurt our [...]
Olympics of Stupid
Posted in Basketball, China, Corruption, Football, Foreigners, Germany, Housing Policy, Labor Policy, Olympics, Soccer on September 30, 2009 | 10 Comments »
Not long after saying that health care was more important than lobbying for the Olympics, Barack Obama decided to make the trip to Copenhagen to lobby to put the 2016 Olympics in Chicago. On this one, here’s hoping he loses.
Private Label Cars
Posted in Industrial Policy, Labor Policy on September 21, 2009 | 5 Comments »
The auto industry is maddeningly difficult. Overcapacity, long product design cycles, extensive unionization, national champions, frustrating distribution rules, warranty and product liability obligations…it’s amazing anyone wants to do it. Yet – like the airline business – there is no shortage of people who want to take a crack at it. Roger Penske’s plan to take [...]
Reform Week: Sports
Posted in Baseball, Basketball, Football, Golf, Hockey, Labor Policy, Soccer, Sports on September 10, 2009 | 8 Comments »
Football season is just about here, and the Denver Broncos have already outdone themselves in bizarre offseason maneuvers. As I mentioned here, the team decided to fire a two-time Super Bowl winner with a career 146-95 record who had the #2 team in total yardage last year despite losing seven running backs and starting a [...]
Reform Week: Health Care
Posted in Health Care, Industrial Policy, Joe Lieberman, Labor Policy, Obama on September 9, 2009 | 12 Comments »
The health care debate is fascinating. While the bailout and subsequent financial adventures entailed a language most Representatives could not even comprehend, most everyone with a pulse believes he understands the health care industry, and being wrong is no impediment. Reminds me of the old and undoubtedly apocryphal tale: Reporter goes to Appalachia in 1964 [...]
Fool’s Gold
Posted in China, Energy Policy, Health Care, Industrial Policy, Labor Policy, Obama on September 1, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Labor Day is as good an excuse as any to sit outside and have a few beers, even if we in America have to be different and observe it on the first Monday in September instead of the first day of May. If you are in Logan County, West Virginia that day, Don Blankenship wants [...]
Broken Schools
Posted in Education, Industrial Policy, Labor Policy on August 31, 2009 | 12 Comments »
Steven Brill has a fantastic article in the New Yorker about the New York City Public Schools. As will not surprise anyone who has ever been in a big city public school, the workforce has all the responsiveness of a late-70s auto assembly plant: The document that dictates how Daysi Garcia can—and cannot—govern P.S. 65 [...]
