Over the last several days, an old piece of mine from March 2013 has spontaneously, seemingly out of nowhere, popped back up in my daily blog statistics–Leave Dennis Rodman Alone. Some formulation of the question “is Dennis Rodman retarded?” has led more internet wanderers here over the last couple of days than any other query. The cause? Hall of fame 5-time NBA champion Dennis Rodman has returned to North Korea, this time with a team of retired NBA players to play a game in honor of Kim Jong-un’s birthday. Rodman once again has been put on the defensive by many in the American media for fraternizing with a terrible dictator and for refusing to advocate for the release of Kenneth Bae, an American who is currently held prisoner in the country. Nonetheless, I’m still backing Dennis Rodman. Here’s why. Continue reading “I’ve Still Got Dennis Rodman’s Back”
Tag: politics
Bartels Redux: The Fed’s Political Influence
I have been somewhat dissatisfied with the explanations I offered a few days ago for the surprising gap between democratic and republican economic performance in election years. Today I have decided to dig a little deeper, and I believe I have found a more satisfactory explanation for the gap.
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The Incredible Statistical Difference between Democrats and Republicans
Lately I’ve been reading a book by Larry Bartels entitled Unequal Democracy: The Politics of the New Gilded Age. Bartels has conducted an incredible study that produced statistical outcomes I was not, to this point, aware of. Given the amount of time and energy I devote to politics, it stands to reason that the general public is not aware of them either, and it is absolutely imperative that, so long as this remains a democracy, every citizen be made aware of what Bartels has found, so I set out today to communicate these figures to whoever might be out there reading, in the hope that perhaps they will be shared more widely.
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Democratic Death Spirals
At this point, a very large number of people recognize that there are serious structural problems with the American political system, but most of these people still support American democracy in the abstract. Today I’d like to argue that this position is inconsistent, that it ignores the implications of recognizing the structural nature of the problems in the first place.
Letting Unemployment Benefits Lapse is a Bad Idea
Congress has decided to let the extension in unemployment benefits it passed in the wake of the economic crisis in 2008 lapse. It’s estimated that 1.3 million Americas will lose their unemployment benefits completely, with 5 million seeing a reduction in benefit of some kind. This is a very bad idea. Here’s why.
Continue reading “Letting Unemployment Benefits Lapse is a Bad Idea”
Benjamin Studebaker 