The Illusion of Knowledge

~ "A little learning is a dang'rous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring: There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, And drinking largely sobers us again.” --Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism

The Illusion of Knowledge

Monthly Archives: May 2012

Fallen Dream

29 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by Milton in Uncategorized

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Marty Feldstein nailed it spot on in this piece:

That was the purpose of the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, which established the European Union. The influential report “One market, one money,” issued in 1990 under the leadership of the former French Finance Minister Jacques Delors, called for the creation of a single currency, relying on the specious argument that the single market could not function well otherwise. More realistically, advocates of a single currency reasoned that it would cause people to identify as Europeans, and that the shift to a single European Central Bank would herald a shift of power away from national governments.

The problem with the Euro is that it is an attempt to impose political unity, conformity and identity through economic pressure, not merely a currency.  As such, it was born with inherent defects that have now emerged and will remain.

Only Obama Can Kill

29 Tuesday May 2012

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There is a piece in the NY Times today about Obama’s wartime activities by Jo Becker and Scott Shane, which details the process by which President Obama has targeted individuals for assassination.  A few points made in the article deserve comment, such as this analysis near the top of the article, in which the authors allege that Obama’s decision making has “baffled” people on both sides of the aisle:

Mr. Obama is the liberal law professor who campaigned against the Iraq war and torture, and then insisted on approving every new name on an expanding “kill list,” poring over terrorist suspects’ biographies on what one official calls the macabre “baseball cards” of an unconventional war. When a rare opportunity for a drone strike at a top terrorist arises — but his family is with him — it is the president who has reserved to himself the final moral calculation.

“He is determined that he will make these decisions about how far and wide these operations will go,” said Thomas E. Donilon, his national security adviser. “His view is that he’s responsible for the position of the United States in the world.” He added, “He’s determined to keep the tether pretty short.”

Nothing else in Mr. Obama’s first term has baffled liberal supporters and confounded conservative critics alike as his aggressive counterterrorism record. His actions have often remained inscrutable, obscured by awkward secrecy rules, polarized political commentary and the president’s own deep reserve.

In interviews with The New York Times, three dozen of his current and former advisers described Mr. Obama’s evolution since taking on the role, without precedent in presidential history, of personally overseeing the shadow war with Al Qaeda.

It’s really not all that baffling.  Obama, as a liberal Democrat with, what I would term, anti-American/imperial views stemming from a very leftists ideology, opposes, on a theoretical basis, the dominance of America in the world.  However, Obama as the man who “think[s] that [he is] a better speechwriter than [his] speechwriters…. know[s] more about policies on any particular issue than [his] policy directors… [and] think[s] [he’s] a better political director than [his] political director” is fully in favor of unilateral decision making.  It is, unequivocally, the hubris of the individual believing he is better than the system and more important than the principle.  Rules restricting executive authority were well and good for George W. Bush (who declined, for instance, to recess appoint individuals during pro-forma Senate sessions on the grounds that he lacked the authority to do so) because he was “bad,” while such rules should not apply to Obama because he is “good.”

Biden on Vacation

29 Tuesday May 2012

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Joe Biden taking a vacation is a great service to our country. At least his sins can only be by omission now.  If only Obama would take more time off…

The Hubris of “Experts”

10 Thursday May 2012

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Over at Reason, Peter Suderman has a very nice piece summarizing Noam Scheiber’s new book.  What I find most interesting (though in no way unexpected) is the conclusion by the Obama administration, and Obama himself, that there is no economic problem that cannot be solved by the pulling of levers in just the right proportions.

In The Escape Artists: How Obama’s Team Fumbled the Recovery, Noam Scheiber, a senior editor at the venerable liberal journal The New Republic, presents a reminder that the senior officials who drive the policymaking process are also people with unique and often clashing personalities. But there is one trait that connects them all: an unshakable belief that there is no economic problem, large or small, they cannot solve through technocratic meddling.

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