Month: August 2019

Saving capitalism from itself. Again.

benfell

Monday (August 19), it was reported that the Business Roundtable had decided that corporations had duties to all stakeholders, beyond the fiduciary to shareholders. Of course in reporting the declaration, the Wall Street Journal duly noted that “[c]orporate boards have a legal obligation to protect the interests of shareholders.”[1] The Journal certainly didn’t suffer from any awakening of a conscience there and maybe, probably more than likely, this will all be forgotten. Read more →

  1. [1]David Benoit, “Move Over, Shareholders: Top CEOs Say Companies Have Obligations to Society,” Wall Street Journal, August 19, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/business-roundtable-steps-back-from-milton-friedman-theory-11566205200↩

On feeding wildlife

benfell

Today, I drove past a woman standing in her driveway. A family of deer—a doe and two fawns stood nearby, probably within five yards. The woman tossed something green and round toward the doe. I realized it was probably an apple.

How sweet, I thought to myself. Read more →

Lies, damned lies, and … economics. Oh, and Donald Trump

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It’s a bit weird that Donald Trump assumes he has any credibility whatsoever to assure anyone that a recession isn’t coming.[1] After all, this is the same man who keeps fact checkers busy at an unprecedented rate, a man who revivifies the old dictum that you can tell a politician is lying by the fact his (it’s a really old dictum, so yes, ‘his’) lips are moving. Read more →

  1. [1]Stephen Collinson, “Fretful Trump goes on attack as economy fears cloud 2020 hopes,” CNN, August 19, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/19/politics/donald-trump-economy-2020-election-china-trade-war/index.html↩

Bernie Sanders’ self-destruction

benfell

Some disturbing Bernie Sanders tweets have surfaced in my newsfeed:

Blaming Donald Trump for this is like blaming Trump for Adam Smith. The economy isn’t “rigged” in this way. It is a capitalist economy and capitalism inherently operates in this way.[1] Read more →

  1. [1]Max Weber, “Class, Status, Party,” in Social Theory: The Multicultural and Classic Readings, ed. Charles Lemert, 4th ed. (Boulder, CO: Westview, 2010), 119-129.↩

What the hell is going on with the prison video from around the time of Jeffrey Epstein’s death?

benfell

Some shit, like fucking video recordings from the time around Jeffrey Epstein’s death should not be hard for the Federal Bureau of Investigation to lay hands on. Instead, five days following his demise, CNN lists among open questions, “What does surveillance video show, which cameras were operational and do the logs of inmate checks match the video that exists?”[1]
Read more →

  1. [1]Evan Perez and Mark Morales, “Basic facts about Epstein’s suicide elude investigators 5 days later,” CNN, August 15, 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/15/politics/jeffrey-epstein-prison-suicide-questions/index.html↩

Wait, what? Jeffrey Epstein strangled? Probably not. Only probably.

benfell

So I was reasonably satisfied that Jeffrey Epstein’s death was suicide and expecting to let the matter drop. This isn’t the kind of thing I normally pay much attention to but the possibility that this was murder to cover up the misdeeds of his fellow elites brought it to the edge of my area of interest.[1] Read more →

  1. [1]David Benfell, “Jeffrey Epstein is dead. Send in the conspiracy clowns,” Not Housebroken, August 11, 2019, https://disunitedstates.org/2019/08/11/jeffrey-epstein-is-dead-send-in-the-conspiracy-clowns/↩

As a possible or probable recession looms, neoliberalism evades challenge. Yet again.

benfell

The narrative has changed. It is no longer about a long “expansion” (not so much when you count externalized costs,[1] but, you know, that would require the rich to pay for what they steal so we can’t count those) as it is about multiple causes for worry and whether or not we are in fact already in a recession.[2] Read more →

  1. [1]Riane Eisler, The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2007).↩
  2. [2]Jon Hilsenrath, “After Record-Long Expansion, Here’s What Could Knock the Economy Off Course,” Wall Street Journal, June 3, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/after-record-long-expansion-heres-what-could-knock-the-economy-off-course-11559591043; John Kemp, “Global economy is probably in recession,” Reuters, August 7, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-global-economy-kemp/column-global-economy-is-probably-in-recession-idUKKCN1UX1OF; Colin Kruger, “‘Insane levels’: Can a world where profitless companies are flying last?” Sydney Morning Herald, August 10, 2019, https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/insane-levels-can-a-world-where-profitless-companies-are-flying-last-20190808-p52f3d.html; Damian Paletta, Thomas Heath, and Taylor Telford, “Stocks tank as another recession warning surfaces,” Washington Post, August 14, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/08/14/stocks-tank-another-recession-warning-surfaces/; Tim Wallace, “‘Very real’ recession risk as economy contracts for first time in seven years,” Telegraph, August 9, 2019, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2019/08/09/recession-risk-now-real-economy-contracts-first-time-seven-years/; Tim Wallace, “World economy faces a risk that’s far bigger than Trump’s trade war,” Sydney Morning Herald, August 9, 2019, https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/world-economy-faces-a-risk-that-s-far-bigger-than-trump-s-trade-war-20190809-p52ffs.html↩

Sound and fury on Brexit

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The fundamentals remain the same. As I wrote earlier,

As a hard Brexit looms (nothing has changed here—it is still the legal default[1]), as Boris Johnson’s government keeps pedaling its bicycle at a brick wall,[2] and as plotters plot to prevent it but lack a certain path to do so,[3] there was a suggestion that a “humble petition” might be passed by Parliament asking the Queen to travel to Brussels to ask for an extension to the Brexit deadline.[4] “Earlier this week, John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, threatened to send the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to Buckingham Palace ‘in a cab’ taxi to tell the Queen that the Opposition would be Labour is ‘taking over’ if Mr Johnson were to lose a no-confidence vote but refused to resign.”[5] (Would he bow?[6] Inquiring minds want to know.) It appears Her Majesty isn’t interested.[7][8]

But opposition to the seemingly all-but-certain hard Brexit is beginning to form up, if a bit late. “The House of Commons Speaker, John Bercow,” who previously achieved notoriety for blocking Theresa May’s third attempt to bring her deal up for a vote,[9] “has said he will ‘fight with every breath in my body’ to stop Boris Johnson from proroguing parliament to force through a no-deal Brexit without the consent of MPs.”[10] though that is still exactly what will happen unless Parliament actually gets its shit together.[11] Read more →

  1. [1]Jack Maidment, “Brexit latest news: Theresa May’s deal defeated again by 58 votes – PM hints at general election to break deadlock,” Telegraph, March 29, 2019, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/03/29/brexit-latest-news-theresa-may-final-push-mps-prepare-vote-withdrawal/; Peter Walker, “Could parliament’s latest amendment stop no-deal Brexit?” Guardian, July 18, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jul/18/could-parliaments-latest-amendment-stop-no-deal-brexit; Josh Wilson, “No-deal Brexit odds: Latest predictions on leaving the EU without a deal,” Telegraph, August 2, 2019, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/0/no-deal-brexit-odds-latest-predictions-leaving-eu-without-deal/↩
  2. [2]Karla Adam and William Booth, “Could Boris Johnson’s ‘no-deal’ Brexit break up the United Kingdom?” Washington Post, July 29, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/could-boris-johnsons-no-deal-brexit-crack-up-the-united-kingdom/2019/07/29/b871ebac-b1e6-11e9-acc8-1d847bacca73_story.html; David Benfell, “The Disunited Kingdom,” Not Housebroken, July 31, 2019, https://disunitedstates.org/2019/07/31/the-disunited-kingdom/; David Benfell, “Boris Johnson might think he’s playing poker with the European Union, but he’s actually playing ‘chicken’—with a brick wall,” Not Housebroken, August 2, 2019, https://disunitedstates.org/2019/08/02/boris-johnson-might-think-hes-playing-poker-with-the-european-union-but-hes-actually-playing-chicken-with-a-brick-wall/; David Benfell, “The hatless mad hatters,” Not Housebroken, August 4, 2019, https://disunitedstates.org/2019/08/04/the-hatless-mad-hatters/; Daniel Boffey and Rowena Mason, “Boris Johnson has no intention of renegotiating Brexit deal, EU told,” Guardian, August 5, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/aug/05/no-deal-brexit-is-boris-johnsons-central-scenario-eu-told; British Broadcasting Corporation, “Irish deputy PM Coveney: No deal Brexit would mean customs checks in Ireland,” July 21, 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-politics-49062367/irish-deputy-pm-coveney-no-deal-brexit-would-mean-customs-checks-in-ireland; Amanda Ferguson and William Booth, “Northern Ireland’s politicians don’t agree on much. Except that Boris Johnson’s no-deal Brexit would be a disaster,” Washington Post, July 31, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/northern-irelands-politicians-dont-agree-on-much-except-that-boris-johnsons-no-deal-brexit-would-be-a-disaster/2019/07/31/c209affa-b2eb-11e9-acc8-1d847bacca73_story.html; Gwynne Dyer, “Boris Johnson is quite possibly the last prime minister of the United Kingdom,” Hamilton Spectator, July 24, 2019, https://www.thespec.com/opinion-story/9515926-gwynne-dyer-boris-johnson-is-quite-possibly-the-last-prime-minister-of-the-united-kingdom/; Peter Foster and Camilla Tominey, “Boris Johnson warned that ‘no deal’ Brexit will require return of ‘direct rule’ in Northern Ireland,” Telegraph, July 26, 2019, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/07/26/boris-johnson-warned-no-deal-brexit-will-require-return-direct/; Nick Hopkins, “UK less able to cope with hard Brexit than it was in spring, say officials,” Guardian, August 1, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/aug/01/uk-less-able-to-cope-with-hard-brexit-than-in-spring-say-officials; Conor Humphries, “Irish PM says hard Brexit would raise issue of Irish unification,” Telegraph, July 27, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-ireland-nireland-idUSKCN1UL280; Steven Morris, “No-deal Brexit would endanger rural life, says Welsh leader,” Guardian, July 30, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jul/30/no-deal-brexit-would-endanger-rural-way-of-life-says-welsh-leader; Lisa O’Carroll and Rowena Mason, “Johnson told no-deal Brexit will crush domestic policy plans,” Guardian, July 28, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jul/28/boris-johnson-ifg-no-deal-brexit-crush-domestic-policy-plans; Anna Mikhailova et al, “Michel Barnier rejects Boris Johnson’s ‘unacceptable’ Brexit plan,” Telegraph, July 25, 2019, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/07/25/boris-johnson-new-prime-minister-cabinet-parliament-brexit-latest/; Séamas O’Reilly, “Hard Brexiters’ stance on the Irish border is nonsense – I can tell you, I grew up there,” Guardian, August 7, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/07/northern-ireland-hard-border-brexit-customs; Andrew Sentance and David Blanchflower, “‘No-deal Brexit talk has hit home hard’ – two experts debate the data,” Guardian, July 31, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jul/31/no-deal-brexit-talk-has-hit-home-hard-two-experts-debate-the-data; Heather Stewart, Lisa O’Carroll, and Daniel Boffey, “Brussels repels Boris Johnson’s quest for new Brexit deal,” Guardian, July 25, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jul/25/brussels-throws-out-boris-johnsons-plans-to-alter-brexit-deal; Tim Wallace, “‘Very real’ recession risk as economy contracts for first time in seven years,” Telegraph, August 9, 2019, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2019/08/09/recession-risk-now-real-economy-contracts-first-time-seven-years/↩
  3. [3]David Benfell, “Okay, so really now, assuming they choose to do so, how do the British avoid a hard Brexit?” Not Housebroken, July 26, 2019, https://disunitedstates.org/2019/07/26/okay-so-really-now-assuming-they-choose-to-do-so-how-do-the-british-avoid-a-hard-brexit/; Edward Malnick, “Dominic Cummings tells MPs: you’ve missed your chance to stop no-deal Brexit,” Telegraph, August 3, 2019, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/08/03/dominic-cummings-tells-mps-missed-chance-stop-no-deal-brexit/; Oliver Wright, “Could Brexit rebels scupper conference season?” Times, August 8, 2019, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/could-brexit-rebels-scupper-conference-season-q7hqdh9w0↩
  4. [4]Nicholas Watt, “Brexit: Scheme to block no deal ‘could involve Queen,’” British Broadcasting Corporation, July 18, 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49040128↩
  5. [5]Christopher Hope and Harry Yorke, “Buckingham Palace and Downing Street plan to keep the Queen out of looming constitutional crisis over Brexit,” Telegraph, August 9, 2019, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/08/09/buckingham-palace-downing-street-plan-keep-queen-looming-constitutional/↩
  6. [6]Alex Finnis, “Why Jeremy Corbyn was actually correct not to bow to the Queen,” ShortList, June 22, 2017, https://www.shortlist.com/news/why-jeremy-corbyn-was-actually-correct-not-to-bow-to-the-queen↩
  7. [7]Christopher Hope and Harry Yorke, “Buckingham Palace and Downing Street plan to keep the Queen out of looming constitutional crisis over Brexit,” Telegraph, August 9, 2019, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/08/09/buckingham-palace-downing-street-plan-keep-queen-looming-constitutional/↩
  8. [8]David Benfell, “A bicycle on a steep downward slope towards a brick wall,” Not Housebroken, August 10, 2019, https://disunitedstates.org/2019/08/10/a-bicycle-on-a-steep-downward-slope-towards-a-brick-wall/↩
  9. [9]Gordon Rayner, “John Bercow row: Tory MPs plot to dock Speaker’s pay or axe his pension over Brexit intervention,” Telegraph, January 10, 2019, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/01/09/john-bercow-takes-control-brexit-critics-warn-unprecedented/↩
  10. [10]Jessica Elgot, “Bercow will ‘fight’ to stop Johnson closing
    parliament for no deal,” Guardian, August 13, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/aug/13/bercow-will-fight-to-stop-johnson-closing-parliament-for-no-deal↩
  11. [11]Jack Maidment, “Brexit latest news: Theresa May’s deal defeated again by 58 votes – PM hints at general election to break deadlock,” Telegraph, March 29, 2019, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/03/29/brexit-latest-news-theresa-may-final-push-mps-prepare-vote-withdrawal/; Peter Walker, “Could parliament’s latest amendment stop no-deal Brexit?” Guardian, July 18, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jul/18/could-parliaments-latest-amendment-stop-no-deal-brexit; Josh Wilson, “No-deal Brexit odds: Latest predictions on leaving the EU without a deal,” Telegraph, August 2, 2019, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/0/no-deal-brexit-odds-latest-predictions-leaving-eu-without-deal/↩

Three cheers for Ethnic Studies. Now comes the hard part.

benfell

California is having a hard time developing an ethnic studies curriculum for both high schools and the California State University system. That does not make it “propaganda.” That does not delegitimize it. Though it’s apparent that’s what you’ll hear.[1] Read more →

  1. [1]Howard Blume and Nina Agrawal, “Ethnic studies may soon be mandatory. Can California get it right?” Los Angeles Times, August 13, 2019, https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-08-12/california-ethnic-studies-curriculum; Steven Johnson, “Ethnic-Studies Scholars Hoped Their Curriculum Would Break Boundaries. Critics Are Calling It Propaganda,” Chronicle of Higher Education, August 13, 2019, https://www.chronicle.com/article/Ethnic-Studies-Scholars-Hoped/246949↩