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Saturday, April 06, 2002
As you can tell by the last sentence, I am following the more radical elements of the election. More later.
6:20 PM
The 2002 French Election with Matt Welch
Got a good response from independent journalist Matt Welch today clarifying French politics for me (His wife is French and participated in a labor march there last year.) He is an excellent writer and I'm a big fan of his work for ESPN and the Los Angeles Daily News. I highly recommend his homepage: http://www.mattwelch.com
Here's his letter.
Dear Dave,
Haven't been following it too closely, though my wife just learned that she'll be able to vote after all (it was looking unlikely there for a while), so we'll be talking about it a lot more.
The Gaullist do differ from the Socialists, though to a laissez-faire American it might all look the same. They are generally, if vaguely, more in favor of easing controls over the labor market -- it was the Socialists' big idea to create the mandatory 35-hour workweek, while the Gaullists opposed it (though now it is considered to be a "success"). A Gaullist tends, socially, to be older, more personally conservative/traditional, Catholic. Socialists skew younger, more Parisian, atheist. Both are broadly pro-European, with maybe the Gaullists more concerned about giving Europe a "French" character, while the Socialists want to enshrine "European values" such as a thick safety net & ban on the death penalty. The Socialists will make a big noise about gay marriage or something; Gaullists might be likely to worry a bit about immigration. In practice, these differences tend to coalesce once in power
Don't know about any of the three Trotskyites, and don't really know much, frankly.
Best,
Matt
6:19 PM
CATO economist Stephen Moore has it wrong in his article in the April 8th issue of The Weekly Standard. His attack on Keynesian economics is not wrong, but it misses the point. The problem with conservative attacks on Keynes is that they forget a very important part about the great English economist: he was a conservative. Keynes was a big follower of Edmund Burke until his death and developed his model partly to protect the social order and maintain stability in the West in an age of fascism, i.e. conserve. Contrary to many reports from California and Chicago economists Keynes' was against distribution of wealth and absolutely despised Marx. He was a liberal admirer of the bourgeoisie and had any right to be. He himself proved that the life of a middle-class member of society was not as decadent as many of the leaders of the world believed. An intelligent gentleman who believed Marx would destroy society by reducing everyone to the proletariat. His political ends of contrary to many conservatives are closer to Hamilton and Clay than to Lenin or Mao, as many have suggested.
Economically Keynes is as correct as ever. Mr. Moore suggests that “the main economic value of tax cuts is to reward productive behavior” and that Keynesian economics are “discredited” because the multiplier effect does not actually work. If this is so, how can he explain the significant growth in the 60’s and 70’s, which eventually became inflation due to government mismanagement? Keynes’ beliefs work. When investment is not being used, the government can increase spending to pick up the slack. Keynes himself joked that the government could bury money in a hole and hire workers to dig it up in order to get employment and growth moving. Instead however, he did the more practical thing and suggested targeted tax cuts government projects. Many of these projects were similar to those suggested by his conservative predecessors, Clay and Lincoln in the American System of the 1830’s and 40’s.
The main falling point of Mr. Moore’s argument is that within years of all of the major government spending and tax programs, the economy has rebounded. He is certainly right when he says that the tax cuts will help the economy in the long run, but he ignores the growth in the short run, which was Keynes area of specialty. And, as the preeminent economist of the 20th century said, “In the long run, we are all dead.”
12:49 PM
Apperantly Judge Mills Lane of t.v. court and boxing refferee fame had a stroke a few days ago. His condition is said to be improving and the sixty-four year old is expected to recover fully, but his days in the ring may be over. He adds a lot of character to the matches with his humor and high pitched voice, but he costs the viewers lots of money. His disqualification of Tyson in the Holyfield fight was a little overboard that second time. Tyson was going to lose anyway, but this wasted a lot of money and turned off many boxing fans. Anyway, let's hope his health recovers.
11:21 AM
Friday, April 05, 2002
Sorry for the bad language before. Those guys are just so over-rated!
11:10 PM
Just great! I left a bottle of oranges and grapefruit in my dresser, thinking they were meant to be left that way until opened, and they fermented and blew up! Now all the people in the hall are at the "Fools on the Hill" improv. comedy show. Fuck the "Fools". Those guys suck shit!
11:06 PM
Day At The Derby
I think the main condenter for this year's Kentucky Derby is Harlan's Holiday. It is the odds on favorite (4-1) and should do well, seeing as it has never come it worse than 2nd. You won't make any money betting on it, but I would think it is a sure bet. The races it has one in the past few months have been prestigious and the other contenders are from legitimate stables. If I can find a good online gambling site ( or I win the Churchill Downs lottery that I registered for a few weeks ago) I will go for Johannesburg to Show. That has pretty good odds and could make a fair amount of money.
10:52 PM
Found a great webpage for lovers of fine clothing like myself. Check out:
http://www.vintagehawaiianshirt.net/email.htm
This has some great links to purchase and browse the key to a good wardrobe.
10:42 PM
I'm glad the Tyson-Lewis fight was finally arranged. Vegas and D.C. missed out. They estimate somewhere around $100 Million in revenue. I think this could be Tyson's last match. He's still a killer, but with age and the recent troubles in the ring will make him opt for an easy out. The last two matches were jokes and I have a feeling he could pull a Hannibal Lecter on Lewis and really upset the crowd. I won't pay for the PPV, but you can bet your ass that I will be following on radio or the web.
10:20 PM
Check out http://gozags.fansonly.com/sports/m-tennis/recaps/040302aaa.html to see my man Jesse Goldsmith's glory in tennis. All of that coaching over the summer and sweet love with hot chicks for the past several years has really kicked in. Watch out Anna Kornikova!
9:49 PM
Today is the opening day of my Weblog. I was inspired to create this page after seeing a talk by the great editor and journalist Andrew Sullivan at school last night. He mentioned how the revolutionary invention of the internet has made it possible for the layperson to print his/her opinions internationally. blogger.com has provided a great service to citizens and loud-mouths like myself who know that the best way to protect the interests the country and the important dogma of freedom of speech is to speak freely about the issues of the day. I would encourage readers to send me comments and questions to the address listed in the upper left-hand corner of the page. Now let's roll!
9:13 PM
Testing
9:04 PM
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