Stiglitz: The Price of 9/11
Joseph Stiglitz: The Price of 9/11, by Joseph E. Stiglitz, Commentary, Project Syndicate: The September 11, 2001, terror attacks by Al Qaeda were meant to harm the United States, and they did, but in ways that Osama bin Laden probably...
Sachs: America Needs a Third-Party Movement
Jeff Sachs wonders why military spending isn't a large part of the budget talks: Obama could have cut hundreds of billions of dollars in spending that has been wasted on America's disastrous wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen, but...
The Costs of War
One of the costs of war is higher unemployment: Gender Values: The Costs of War, by Susan Feiner: At ten years and counting, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are the longest in U.S. history. Not surprisingly, they are the...
Libya and the Missing Progressive Blogosphere
I have enough trouble keeping up with economic developments daily, and then trying to make sense of them myself and to others. I just don't have the time or the expertise to make sense of all the developments in the...
"The Solution in Afghanistan: Get Out"
The human and financial costs of the war in Afghanistan "are unacceptable and unsustainable": The solution in Afghanistan: Get out, by James P. McGovern and Walter B. Jones, Commentary, Washington Post: No one, it seems, wants to talk about the...
"The Sorrow and the Self-Pity"
Paul Krugman: The Sorrow And The Self-Pity: There is a case for the tax cut deal, as the best of a very bad situation. But Obama did not help that case yesterday by lashing out at “purists”. Leave aside the...
Stiglitz and Bilmes: The True Cost of the Iraq War
Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes: The true cost of the Iraq war: $3 trillion and beyond, by Joseph E. Stiglitz and Linda J. Bilmes, Commentary, Washington Post: Writing in these pages in early 2008, we put the total cost to...
Pentagon Plans to Reduce Budget
The Pentagon announces a plan to cut defense spending: Pentagon Plans Steps to Reduce Budget and Jobs, by Thom Shanker, NY Times: Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Monday that he would close a military command, restrict the use of...
WikiLeaks Releases Documents on Afghanistan
Will this be a game changer in Afghanistan?
Defense Spending and Deficit Reduction
The defense budget seems to be off the table when it comes to budget discussions, but it shouldn't be: America's Unquenchable Defense Spending, by Michael Cohen: If there's one issue that seems to unite an increasingly divided and fractured capital,...
"Time to Get Tough on Defense Spending"
Calling all budget hawks: Time to get tough on defense spending, by Katrina vanden Heuvel, Commentary, Washington Post: With the fixation on shrinking the budget deficit, why is over $700 billion in annual defense spending almost always off-limits for discussion?...
"The National Security Shell Game"
Jamie Galbraith says that "the 'national security' case for cutting Social Security and Medicare is bogus": The national security shell game, by James K. Galbraith, Commentary, LA Times: Deficit hawks are using national security as an excuse to seek cuts...
