The German Political Theorist Who Explains What’s Happening in Washington
Carl Schmitt, a Third Reich jurist and philosopher, saw politics as a life-and-death battle against enemies and democracy as dispensable. By Robert J. Shapiro Americans are, of course, deeply divided today over race, gender, immigration, religion, and other differences that define us as a people and political culture. These cleavages have existed throughout American history, but in their current iterations,… Continue reading
Crisis on Wall Street
This week’s financial developments have unfolded in the ways that keep people up at night and spark panic in even seasoned investors. And it’s not over yet — we’re perhaps midway through the financial crisis (which actually could get much worse), and headed fast into a serious and disturbing recession. It’s as if the economy entered a time warp and…Continue reading
Understanding the Mortgage Crisis
It’s a truism of this time, though one often doubted, that globalization is fundamentally good for healthy, successful economies. But unchecked and unscrutinized, globalization also can impose terrible costs, as we see clearly in this week’s U.S. government bail-out of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Globalization set much of the stage for the meltdown, as our government’s systematic failure to…Continue reading