Nine Economic Policy Disasters and What We Can Learn from Them

Coming this fall: Wrong: Nine Economic Policy Disasters and What We Can Learn from Them by Richard S. Grossman.

“In recent years, the world has been rocked by major economic crises, most notably the devastating collapse of Lehman Brothers, the largest bankruptcy in American history, which triggered the breathtakingly destructive sub-prime disaster. What sparks these vast economic calamities? Why do our economic policy makers fail to protect us from such upheavals?”

Has Obama Bungled Foreign Policy?

Marc Ambinder reviews Vali Nasr’s new book, The Dispensable Nation, and calls it “the most trenchant criticism of the Obama administration I’ve yet read.”

“I have some problems with Nasr’s account, including his minimization of Obama’s own commitment to global non-proliferation, which is one reason why it would be folly for Iran to nuclearize under Obama’s watch, and with his reading of Iran’s repeated efforts to negotiate with the U.S. as something other than a consequence of successful economic and covert pressure.”

“But I find many of his arguments to be compelling. Russia and China were given keys to the vault in order to get them on board with economic sanctions; in many ways, U.S. policy is pushing rogue countries right into ‘the bosom’ of China and Russia.”

Governing With a Nudge

President Obama’s former regulatory chief Cass Sunstein recently released his newest book, Simpler: The Future of Government, on how to improve the complex web of regulations that govern almost everything.

Donald Boudreaux: “Government, he thinks, should change behavior using ‘nudges’ instead of commands. Regulations can tap into people’s psychological quirks and prompt them to choose ‘better’ behaviors—while still leaving them free in many circumstances to act differently… ‘Simpler’ makes it clear that Mr. Sunstein is no despot in professor’s clothing. But he is emphatically not a limited-government kind of guy. He is an enthusiast for active, expansive, ‘progressive’ government.”

Jeb Bush Lays Out Immigration Platform

Jeb Bush and Clint Bolick have released a new book, [simpleazon-link asin="1476713456" locale="us"]Immigration Wars[/simpleazon-link], reasserting the former Florida governor into the immigration debate as lawmakers continue to piece together a reform proposal.

Suzy Khimm highlights the key proposals: “Undocumented immigrants with no significant criminal record would be allowed to apply for permanent legal residency… They would never be allowed to become citizens, though they could return to their native countries and apply through the normal legal channels… Children brought to the U.S. illegally  when they were under 18 years old would be allowed to receive legal residency and ultimately apply for a green card so long as they graduate from high school or go into the military.”

Reihan Salam: “It recognizes that unauthorized immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as adults ought to bear the consequences of their actions, yet that they have remained in the U.S. because U.S. individuals and firms have been willing to hire them and because our immigration enforcement system doesn’t work very well… It is a coherent approach that is both compassionate and tough-minded.”

The Second Nuclear Age

Just published: The Second Nuclear Age: Strategy, Danger, and the New Power Politics by Paul Bracken.

“The cold war ended more than two decades ago, and with its end came a reduction in the threat of nuclear weapons—a luxury that we can no longer indulge. It’s not just the threat of Iran getting the bomb or North Korea doing something rash; the whole complexion of global power politics is changing because of the reemergence of nuclear weapons as a vital element of statecraft and power politics. In short, we have entered the second nuclear age.”

The Financial Crisis in Vivid, Score-Settling Detail

The recently released book Bull By The Horns by Sheila Bair, the former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, is drawing some interesting reviews, including some score-settling with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner

Donna Borak looks at some of the most interesting portions: “Following the financial crisis, there was a ‘strong consensus’ by members of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision that banks should hold higher capital… While the panel attempted to hash out an agreement, Bair said Geithner unexpectedly inserted himself into the discussions, calling a meeting in spring of 2010 to discuss the U.S. position even though Treasury was not part of the Basel Committee… Ultimately, Bair sees the entire episode as a power play by Geithner. She argues he was trying to blow up the meeting between international regulators so that the issue would be kicked higher to the Group of 20 finance ministers who were set to meet in November.”

Financial Times: “Ms Bair claims that Mr Geithner was relentless in his advocacy for Citi, both in its attempts to buy faltering lenders and when it came to applying restrictions tied to its various rescue packages by the government… Ultimately, she says, Mr Geithner did not want Mr Pandit to be replaced. Ms Bair attributes the decision to his close relationship with Robert Rubin, the former Treasury secretary who had served as Citi’s chairman.”

Felix Salmon: “Bair has always come across as someone with a bit of a persecution complex: she has a tendency to think of herself as the sole defender of what is good and true, even as the rest of the government allows itself to get captured by the rapacious financial services industry.”