BERKELEY — If you are concerned about the well-being of the United States and interested in what the country could do to help itself, stop what you are doing and read historian Geoffrey Kabaservice’s superb 2012 book, “Rule and Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction

BERKELEY —  In 1987, Alan Greenspan was appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan to chair the US Federal Reserve (Fed) board of governors, succeeding Paul Volcker.

BERKELEY — The world is facing two disasters that are making the COVID-19 crisis doubly worse than it ought to be. The first is the rise of the Delta variant, which is twice as contagious and 1.5-2 times deadlier than the original coronavirus.

BERKELEY — The financial and economic news in the United States lately has been dominated by concerns about inflation. “Runaway inflation is the biggest risk facing investors, Leuthold’s Jim Paulsen warns,” according to the cable news channel CNBC.

BERKELEY  —  Back in 1992, Lawrence H. Summers, then the chief economist at the World Bank, and I warned that pushing the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) annual inflation target down from 4 per cent to 2 per cent risked causing big problems.

BERKELEY — When people stormed the Bastille in Paris on July 14, 1789, their purpose was to free inmates whom they saw as political prisoners of the monarchy.

BERKELEY — Very few of the people who voted for US President Donald Trump in the 2020 election are plutocrats who benefitted from his and congressional Republicans’ tax cut, or even wannabe plutocrats who can hope to benefit from it in the future.

BERKELEY — The United States is home to 4 per cent of the world’s population but 21 per cent of confirmed COVID-19 deaths; it accounts for 25 per cent of the Global North’s population but 50 per cent of its excess mortalities, deaths from all causes above the usual rate, register

BERKELEY — Ten years and ten months ago, US President Barack Obama announced in his 2010 State of the Union address that it was time for austerity. “Families across the country are tightening their belts and making tough decisions,” he explained.