Notre Dame undergrad (math); JD, Indiana University at Bloomington; 1st Lieutenant, US Army.; private practice in corporate and securities law; Assistant AG in Tennessee for consumer protection and securities; Blue Sky Securities Commissioner, Tennessee; private practice, bankruptcy and corporate law.
I have had a lifelong interest in economics. For most of my career, that interest was practical, focused on the problems in front of me. Lately I have been more interested in economics as a theory, especially its impact on the lives of people like those I met in my bankruptcy practice, and on the politics of money in the US. I also enjoy reading philosophers, starting in college and steadily expanding my reading ever since. I wrote at FireDogLake for a number of years.
Generally, I think the problem facing the US is the dominance of neoliberal discourse. I think it clouds the vision, and limits the kinds of problems that can be identified and solved. For example, the existence and danger of climate change can easily be identified in a scientific discussion. However, the problem does not fit the neoliberal discourse because science insists that the pursuit of individual and corporate self-interest will lead to devastation. In neoliberal discourse, the pursuit of self-interest always leads to Eden.
The neoliberal project has two prongs. One is the police function of crushing dissent and alternative views. The police function is provided by government agencies and private and institutional actors. The counterpart is the economic system , which is operated by government and by private and institutional actors. Some of these actors operate in both spheres. I focus on the second prong.
The Origins of Totalitarianism: Interlude On the Twilight of Conservative Elites Previous posts in this series: The Origins of Totalitarianism Part 1: Introduction. The Origins of Totalitarianism Part 2: Antisemitism The Origins of Totalitarianism: Interlude on the Tea Party The Origins of Totalitarianism Part 3: Superfluous Capital and Superfluous People The Origins of Totalitarianism: Interlude […]
Previous posts in this series: The Origins of Totalitarianism Part 1: Introduction. The Origins of Totalitarianism Part 2: Antisemitism The Origins of Totalitarianism: Interlude on the Tea Party The Origins of Totalitarianism Part 3: Superfluous Capital and Superfluous People The Origins of Totalitarianism: Interlude on The Commons Capitalism Versus The Social Commons (published at Naked […]
In an article in The Guardian, Thomas Piketty says that Bernie Sanders represents a real hope for the adoption of the tax policies Piketty lays out in Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Piketty calls for higher and steeply progressive income taxes and a high estate tax, which he thinks will lead to a reduction in […]
Recently I saw Ian Read, the CEO of Pfizer, on CNBC explaining that the Pfizer/Allergan merger would enable the combined companies to spend more on research and development of new drugs. He also confirmed that Pfizer raised prices on at least 105 drugs for no apparent reason. You can watch a small part of the […]
Previous posts in this series: The Origins of Totalitarianism Part 1: Introduction. The Origins of Totalitarianism Part 2: Antisemitism The Origins of Totalitarianism: Interlude on the Tea Party The Origins of Totalitarianism Part 3: Superfluous Capital and Superfluous People The Origins of Totalitarianism: Interlude on The Commons Capitalism Versus The Social Commons (published at Naked […]
Previous posts in this series: The Origins of Totalitarianism Part 1: Introduction. The Origins of Totalitarianism Part 2: Antisemitism The Origins of Totalitarianism: Interlude on the Tea Party The Origins of Totalitarianism Part 3: Superfluous Capital and Superfluous People The Origins of Totalitarianism: Interlude on The Commons Capitalism Versus The Social Commons (published at Naked […]
Previous posts in this series: The Origins of Totalitarianism Part 1: Introduction. The Origins of Totalitarianism Part 2: Antisemitism The Origins of Totalitarianism: Interlude on the Tea Party The Origins of Totalitarianism Part 3: Superfluous Capital and Superfluous People The Origins of Totalitarianism: Interlude on The Commons Capitalism Versus The Social Commons ======== Please note: […]
Previous posts in this series: The Origins of Totalitarianism Part 1: Introduction. The Origins of Totalitarianism Part 2: Antisemitism The Origins of Totalitarianism: Interlude on the Tea Party The Origins of Totalitarianism Part 3: Superfluous Capital and Superfluous People In Part 3, I discussed two problems created by unrestrained capitalism, superfluous wealth and superfluous people. […]
Previous posts in this series: The Origins of Totalitarianism Part 1: Introduction. The Origins of Totalitarianism Part 2: Antisemitism The Origins of Totalitarianism: Interlude on the Tea Party In Part 2 of The Origins of Totalitarianism Arendt discusses the history of European Imperialism, primarily focused on England, France and Germany. “Expansion is everything,” said Cecil […]
As I noted in this post, Arendt says that the great frauds and swindles of the 1870s led to the rise of Antisemitic political parties in Germany, Austria and France. The Grimdungsschwindel in Germany and Austria involved public offerings of investments in what we would call start-ups corporations in railroads, mining, steamships, docks, and so […]