June 4th, 2009
After soaking up so many moments of Obama’s rise to the Presidency, culminating with the amazing night of his victory and subsequent inauguration, I must confess to having ignored a good deal of his speechmaking as President. Sure, I’ve followed the whirlwind of policy debates as he simultaneously tackles items from an agenda more daunting than anything I’ve witnessed in my lifetime. But I’ve generally relied on my favorite media sources to digest his words and actions.
Today, something drew me back to the man. As I began to peruse the NY Times’ piece on the speech Obama had just delivered in Cairo, I stopped myself and decided instead to read the full text. Then, after just a couple of paragraphs concluding with his offering the Arabic greeting of peace, “assalaamu alaykum,” I realized that I needed to hear and watch him deliver this message.
And what a message it was. Thoughtful, eloquent, powerful, balanced, hopeful—I am once again filled with pride that this man is the leader of our country. He spoke for fifty five minutes, analyzing seven major issues, from “violent extremism” (remarkably, he eschewed the loaded term “terrorism”) to women’s rights (“our daughters can contribute just as much to society as our sons”). See this piece by Talking Points Memo’s Daniel Levy for analysis of some key aspects of the speech. Overall, Obama’s measured yet forceful analysis demonstrated wisdom and a practical grasp of the state of the world that left me wondering if great things might perhaps be achieved in areas where I have not dared to hope for a positive outcome.
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Tags: Middle East, Obama, Politics
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March 6th, 2009
I’m organizing a weekly series of what I have rather pretentiously termed “discussion salons.” My goal is to get individuals with diverse views to have a dialogue on the most divisive of topics without it turning into The McLaughlin Group (or, as my mother-in-law likes to call it, “Five People Fighting”).
In a recent email, Lisa Schwartz, an acquaintance who is particularly interested in the “salon” idea, perfectly summed up the dilemma that has inspired me to create them:
Despite my cynicism about politics, I think political discourse is critical, especially now. The country has never been more polarized, or not in my lifetime anyway. And yet I have never believed more firmly in my own convictions. This cannot be good. I used to think that maybe the “other side” had a few good points. No more. I see no viable arguments, no redeeming ideas. Nothing. The “other side” has become unrecognizable to me. Or maybe I have become too myopic. And therein lies the rub. Things have gotten so bad that neither side seems willing to see, let alone understand, any opposing views. We’re riven by chaos, hostility and fear. Pity our poor President.
And so, as I discussed in Part 1 of this post, I wonder how much of this rift is the product of our reliance on ideology to form our opinions, to decide what news and analysis to read, which experts to believe, etc. and how much is the result of some relatively objective and independent analysis of “reality?”
The salons may be a place to begin such an exploration. Can we find any common starting points from which to make a connection and build a dialogue? Can we at least get past the hostility and fear? Can we gain a better understanding of the views of people who see things in a radically different way?
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Tags: discussion salons, free markets, kant, philosophy, Politics
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February 19th, 2009
Lately, I have been thinking about epistemology. Admittedly, the question of the limits of our ability to grasp the true nature of things seems more like the stuff of late night college bullsh*t sessions inspired by fusty philosophy courses (more on that in Part 2) than a worthwhile topic for a blog aimed at “casual” readers. But it has a practical parallel in the attempt of lay-people to develop informed opinions about a broad range of issues that currently occupy our political and financial worlds, from the stimulus bill to the climate crisis.
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Tags: financial crisis, stimulus
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February 12th, 2009
It’s been an embarrassingly long time since I’ve posted to Conscious Comments. The holidays, my step-daughter’s wedding and a new puppy, not to mention my work, have all occupied time I might have spent writing. But there have certainly been many events on which I have considered commenting.
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Tags: financial crisis, inauguration, Obama, stimulus, sustainability
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December 1st, 2008
A number of commentators have remarked on the discrepancy between the instant behind-the-scenes bail-out of Citibank and the far more drawn out process US auto makers are being put through as they seek Federal support. Is there a double standard here?
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Tags: auto makers, Citibank, climate change, financial crisis
Posted in Investing and the Markets, Politics | No Comments »
November 21st, 2008
It’s hard to believe that only six weeks have passed since the market’s dramatic collapse reached the crescendo that led to the so-called “TARP” bailout. The credit markets started to thaw as a result of the $2 trillion in central bank intervention that was unleashed (and you thought it was “just” $700 billion!). But now those markets are showing signs of a re-freeze, led by concerns about commercial real estate, Citigroup and a general lack of confidence among lenders that there is such a thing as a credit-worthy borrower (for a detailed, albeit technical breakdown of various credit crunch indicators, check out the blog Calculated Risk).
During this time, the equity markets have moved more or less sideways, making slightly lower lows interspersed with sharp rallies that have quickly fizzled. Meanwhile, the grave economic news has mounted, topped in recent days by the focus on the ailing “domestic” auto industry (in truth, these are global companies).
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Tags: financial crisis, investing
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November 5th, 2008
Wow. I’m still shaking my head in disbelief, and the tears keep welling up. Although I worked on behalf of Obama from early in the primaries, I did not expect to be this moved. Having been bitterly disappointed by this country’s politics for my entire life, I possess a deeply rooted skepticism that dogs me even now, as the focus shifts to the enormous task President Obama faces. In spite of this, I am extremely hopeful.
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Tags: Obama, presidential election
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October 26th, 2008
It’s been two weeks since my last post, which seems like a very long time these days. Between the elections and the global financial crisis, momentous changes are taking shape at a fast and furious pace. In the midst of this turmoil, I am attending the annual conference of the socially responsible investing (SRI) community known as “SRI in the Rockies,” held this year in Whistler, British Columbia.
Being up here in the mountains with the amazingly wise and progressive (some prefer “radical”) crowd that is drawn to this field energizes and inspires me profoundly. The conference only began yesterday and discussions about the challenges we face both as financial advisors and as would-be “change agents” are just getting going. It’s been a difficult year for advisors as well as their clients, but remarkably the expressions of deep concern that I expected to hear, while present, have been leavened by a tremendous sense of hope and a commitment to the future.
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Tags: investing, socially responsible investing, sri, transformative investing
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October 10th, 2008
What to make of the global financial market tumble? The credit markets continue to be frozen. And while that is the immediate crisis, even if we fix it we are far from the end of the workout that will be required in the “real” economy. The markets can barely stand that kind of uncertainty. Even the few weeks required to see if this truly astonishing array of government actions that are being rolled out will have a stabilizing effect or not seems like an eternity. But the real test of these actions won’t be for many months or even years to come, when we find out how the broader economy behaves. As a result, we are drifting from a level where a deep recession is being anticipated by the markets into much darker territory as fear takes over almost entirely. How bad is this and what should investors do?
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Tags: credit crisis, investing
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October 8th, 2008
As I noted yesterday, I’ve been meaning to address the Right’s recent scapegoating of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Rather than attempt this in detail, I will restrict myself to one basic point and then provide some links to other pieces that get into a more thorough analysis, both of the politics and the economics. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: cra, fannie mae, financial crisis, investing
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