Guest blogger

Just a note to alert readers that this blog may, in the not-distant future, feature some guest posts by space/science journalist Michael Battaglia.

Space bonds

I know it's impolitic to be saying anything favorable about financial innovation these days, but I wonder how the space bonds I called for a few years ago would be doing right now. It seems to me that investors might want something that's long-term, basically non-correlated with other financial markets, and poised to benefit from development of new energy and commodity sources.

Post-AIG "bailout"

Odd as it might seem, I think it's a good thing that AIG and other financial stocks are falling in the aftermath of the AIG deal. If the transaction really were the bailout that free-market types are decrying, then we'd quickly see investors responding with relief. But a transaction that imposed stern loan conditions, including that AIG's managers leave, and which is probably a prelude to the company's liquidation, is not really as coddling as the term "bailout" suggests.

"Gluttons of privilege"

I think the more damning criticism of investment banks is not that they were greedy, but that they were stupid -- inventing financial instruments they themselves didn't understand, and staking huge sums on such. But in any event, we'll be hearing plenty more anti-Wall Street rhetoric this year, some of it well-founded, some of it not. And as a reminder that anti-financial populism is hardly new, here's from my article "Bulls, Bears and Presidents":

The 1948 presidential election was another one in which the financial world was prominently at issue. That’s because FDR’s successor, Harry S. Truman, opted to run rather forcefully against Wall Street, in the course of defending his office from the challenge posed by Republican candidate Thomas E. Dewey.

During the campaign, Truman attacked “Wall Street reactionaries” and “gluttons of privilege.” He said a Republican victory would empower “bloodsuckers with offices in Wall Street…princes of privilege…plunderers.” These were, he warned, “the most reactionary elements,” “silent and cunning men,” who would “skim the cream from our natural resources to satisfy their own greed.” They would, he said, “tear the country apart,” and also make it “go to the dogs.”

Nuclear crisis

Current reading: Will Terrorists Go Nuclear?, by Brian Michael Jenkins. It includes a chapter that places the reader in the situation of being president when a nuclear bomb has gone off in Manhattan. (I read ahead to that part.) That's a reminder that there are worse things than financial crises.

Fingers pointing

Megan McArdle is performing a public service by monitoring the dumb, superficial and comically partisan "explanations" people are giving for the financial crisis. See here and here, for example.

Hard to believe

Obama's only five points ahead in New York (!), according to a poll. Like Glenn Reynolds, I find it hard to believe that New York's in play -- hard but not quite impossible. (And I find it considerably easier to think my home state of New Jersey might be.) There goes the last rationale for voting for Bob Barr -- the Obama's-going-to-win-my-state-anyway argument.

UPDATE 9/16 4:15 PM: And there's more on that shrinking New Jersey gap.

Libertarian manifesto

Richard Epstein has a new column in Forbes, and opens with a "Libertarian Manifesto" that sounds pretty good -- and moderate -- to me:

That classical liberalism eschews any affection for anarchy in the name of individual liberty. It recognizes the need for state force not only to prevent aggression and enforce contracts, but also to raise (flat) taxes, supply infrastructure and constrain monopoly. The public sector that emerges from a consistent application of these principles is not small potatoes. It easily encompasses a midsized antitrust law, some (modest) form of regulation over network industries like telecommunications and railroads and control of public nuisances through the targeted application of environmental law.

Ah, but the flip side. This approach also seeks to curtail the active use of government power to disrupt the operation of competitive markets with a dizzying set of subsidies, taxes and regulations that usually lower labor productivity by raising administrative costs--all in a fruitless effort to equalize incomes or create job security. The classical liberal works to design political institutions and legal rules to allow government to preserve social order without taking over decisions better served by private institutions and actors.

No anarchism. No conspiracy theories. No mindless alienation. No cult of Ron Paul. I think Epstein's out of step with a lot of libertarianism today.

Past financial crises

When financial markets are in turmoil, I like to link to my articles about how Alexander Hamilton and J.P. Morgan dealt with financial crises past. Not so much that the specific measures they took carry great relevance for the situation today (though they did innovate a lot of what public and private decisionmakers have used in financial crises since); it's more that they exemplify the serious but calm state of mind needed when you face such things.

Inverse relationship

Andrew Sullivan is boasting about his rising Technorati rank. I wonder if he's noticed the negative correlation between posts containing "Andrew Sullivan" and Obama's poll results. Could it be that the more people read him, the more they're inclined to vote McCain-Palin?

UPDATE 5:40 PM: Between Sullivan and this, I'm tempted to cancel my Atlantic subscription. Except I pay for it with frequent-flier miles (as do, I suspect, many people) so there'd be no money saved. And the cover story wasn't bad, even if the photographer's too clever by half. (Via Instapundit.)

Ramapough pow wow

We attended the Ramapough Mountain Indians'* autumn pow wow in Ringwood State Park. The Ramapough have a long, complex history, and have sought in recent decades to receive formal recognition as a tribe from the federal government.

Two men near the ceremonial fire. Note the flags in the background: U.S., Canadian, and POW/MIA, as well as Native American flags.


Ceremonial dancing. A young man interprets the hunt.


Women dancing. The fringes, we were told, represent members of the tribe.



There were sheep present.

Ringwood Manor was just across a field.

* - Update 4:52 PM: As I link to the official Ramapough Mountain Indians Inc. website, I see the pow wow is not sponsored by them.

Barr regret

By now, I've actually started feeling sorry for Bob Barr. I strongly suspect he regrets getting involved in the presidential race (much like Joe Biden) and is wondering if a performance around 0.5 percent of the popular vote will be enough for a talk radio gig in any major markets.

Gravel on Palin

Presumably, the left-wing Pacifica radio hosts thought that Mike Gravel, Democrat-turned-Libertarian, would have some harsh things to say about Sarah Palin. Instead, Gravel defends Palin (for whom he won't be voting), attacks the Democrats as the "party of war," and generally rips his hosts to pieces. It's worth all 9 minutes of listening. (Found via Lew Rockwell.)

Palin doctrine

Ross Douthat and Kristen Soltis are less than happy with Palin's interview performance. I have mixed feelings. Yes, I would've been happier if she'd shown some sign of having heard of "the Bush doctrine" as a term that's been thrown around in foreign-policy circles. On the other hand, I read a decent amount about foreign policy and had not seen much mention of "the Bush doctrine" for several years, and as noted elsewhere its meaning has been vague and varied.

I think the honest approach, as David Frum suggests, is that she emphasize that her expertise is in domestic policy, especially involving energy and reform, and that she's learning about foreign policy, knows how to get needed information and assemble a reliable team, and could rise to the task if she were to become president in the next four years. I also think that anyone who's criticizing her lack of foreign-policy expertise but also voted for Bill Clinton in 1992 is incoherent.

Bushido Sullivan

I think anyone repeating "Patience and steel. Patience and steel" who's not some kind of Samurai or Shogun is probably a little off, to say the least.

McBama and terrorism

I'm in the minority in this Instapundit poll, since I voted that there's "no difference" in the likelihood of a terrorist attack under a McCain or Obama administration. Terrorists are motivated to attack the U.S., with little regard to who's president. (See, e.g., Al Qaeda in the 1990s.) A McCain administration may be more aggressive in fighting terrorists, but whether that would mean fewer terrorist attacks (or more), especially in the short run, is questionable.

The bigger difference in foreign policy between McCain and Obama, I think, involves dealing with other nations. Whoever's the U.S. president, some nations will be tempted to test U.S. resolve, whether it's China threatening Taiwan, Russia threatening Ukraine, or North Korea threatening South Korea. That temptation will be greater if Obama becomes president, bringing little experience and offering a softer approach. McCain, being a familiar figure and a hard-line type, will be in a better position to prevent international tensions from turning into crises.

9/11 anniversary

Seven years after 9/11, I link back to what I wrote for Research magazine on the atrocity's fifth anniversary about "Heroism and Resilience." Compared to when I wrote the article, Al Qaeda is in worse shape now, having been dealt a blow in Iraq; there's been some progress at Ground Zero; and the stock market is mediocre, but for reasons mostly unrelated to terrorism.

Barr no-show

There's chagrin in hard-libertarian circles that Bob Barr didn't show up for Ron Paul's press conference today. It makes my opinion of Barr go up a notch.

UPDATE 3:15 PM: Plenty more here. I bet some of the pro-Barr people at last June's debate are pretty confused now (I mean, more than they were then).

Orbital power plant

This Friday, the series Discovery Project Earth will focus on space solar power, including what's billed as a breakthrough in wireless power transmission. Should be interesting. An approach that actually generates clean power seems to me like a more desirable option than the other large-scale projects the series has been highlighting (such as covering Greenland with reflective wrap) that are aimed only at mitigating the effects while the pollution continues.

Glamour chocolate

I agree with Virginia Postrel that the new WSJ magazine is not very interesting, though for me an exception was the article about the guy who gave up his criminal-law practice to make artisanal chocolate. I think going from $1 million/year to defend murderers to $100,000 for making chocolate that sells at $8/bar is a reasonable tradeoff, all things considered.