The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST) has published a note on President Reagan’s “Star Wars” antiballistic missile initiative on the 40th anniversary of its proposal on March 23, 1983. It quotes several people who were involved in the… Read More »My Oral History of Star Wars
This article in the New York Times describes the reactions of surviving American embassy hostages to the disclosure of the Reagan administration’s negotiations to hold the hostages captive until Reagan was elected. Some doubt that it happened or that it… Read More »Reaction to Disclosure on Carter Hostage Crisis
CATO published the following summary of the current status of the federal debt:
I am worried that my previous post may have been too favorable to bankers. Bankers are not universally loved. They have a reputation for foreclosing on decent people having a hard time financially, for not lending to anyone except those… Read More »Good Bank, Bad Bank
This article in The Economist magazine describes well what happened with Silicon Valley Bank and some other impending bank failures. It also describes the other side of the banking business, which is getting less attention today. The lesson of SVB… Read More »SVB and Bank Profits
An article in Foreign Affairs says that automation will not eliminate the need for low skilled workers. It contributes to the debate about immigration, and how it affects the economy, discussed in previous blogs (such as this one). The article says: Undoubtedly, truly… Read More »Need for Unskilled Immigrants
In his Washington Post column, Fareed Zakaria says that Washington has succumbed to groupthink on China. He says: Washington has embraced a wide-ranging consensus on China that has turned into a classic example of groupthink. Today, U.S.-China relations are a… Read More »Fareed: Groupthink on China
There are two types of immigration, as I described earlier in my blog on Immigration and Employment. A recent article in Foreign Affairs, “Innovation Power” has picked up the theme of needed high tech immigrants. It says: In addition to… Read More »High Tech Immigration
Reason Magazine says that Senator Joe Manchin is one of the few adults in Congress. It reports that he said: “We’ve been spending more than we bring in every year for the past 21 years, and the debt that has resulted… Read More »Reasonable Joe Manchin
CNBCTV, reporting on India’s missile program, describes how India bypassed the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) sanctions on new missile programs. At the State Department, I began working on developing the MTCR while Jimmy Carter was President. After Reagan was… Read More »MTCR Is Still in the News