Catching UP. Feb 4th Show writeup
Mentioning of Senator Webb and John Edwards and Jim Hightower and their vision of soup kitchen America took me to the simple statement – this country never had it as good. Which lead to the Economist article about the state of Great Britain, subtitled “You've never had it so good”
The place is enjoying a period of extraordinary prosperity. Fourteen years of stable growth have kept unemployment down. There have been social gains as well as economic ones: fewer children and pensioners live in poverty than ten years ago. Crime is broadly lower. And with prosperity has come renewed political clout. Britain has helped to shape aid for Africa, the debate on climate change, European enlargement and, last week, negotiations to restart world trade talks.
All this is especially remarkable in contrast with the recent past. A quarter-century ago, the home of the industrial revolution was closing factories and mines. The class war raged as unions took on the government and business.
There were also several calls that I took and I stayed with them for quite a while today. Lots been said about the creeping left and how dangerous it might be to the cohesion of the developed world that needs something to rally around. Still, I think general notions of free market and freedom of speech are these rallying issues. It is when I talk to callers where my optimism comes out the strongest. Heck, look at Nicaragua – some might thin oh no, Daniel Ortega is back and it is bad. Well, while it is not really that great, Ortega is no longer a commie-pinko. He is a liberal democrat, which means the country has moved forward.
Do I like the current state of affairs in Russia and its current policies? NO. But it is still much better then it was under communists. Do I like the saber rattling from Iran? No, but I still see most of it is for internal consumption. I do not see Hugo Chavez invading Columbia or the US with the help of Obrador as one of the callers suggested. Nor do I see Iran actually attacking Israel.
There was some talk about dictators and more benevolent leaders of Petro-states. What is Hugo Chavez is doing with his oil money? He is buying Russian military jets, missiles and military helicopters.
In 2006, the country bought from Russia 24 Sukhoi 30 jet fighters, 53 MI-24 military helicopters and 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles.
Putin is building more nuclear submarines to fight his war in Chechnya.
The result? Not enough investment, falling oil and gas production, reduced revenues, raiding of emergency funds, etc.
And Finally, Nicolas Sarkozy is embracing “les Anglo Saxons” Why?!
As usual, there is much more in the broadcast, since this is not a transcript.
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