Wednesday, July 01, 2009
California broke
The Governator of California has apparently started paying some workers IOUs instead of dollars, as the State of California seems unable to meet its comitments.
IMO: Oddly enough, the Governator seems to have been at my wedding breakfast some 15 years ago although I can't remember whether either of us realised it at the time, possibly not. Now his State of California has gone broke but my "Institute for Fundamental Studies", which has had Associates in over 32 countries and having had several Nobel prizewinners as associates hasn't. In fact in a minor way, the "Institute for Fundamental Studies" is flourishing.
On the Reith lectures this year, Michael Sandel, Harvard Professor of Government, delivered four lectures about the prospects of a new politics of the common good.
IMO: I heard Sandel's lectures but unfortunately do not see his ideas working in practice yet, to put it mildly. His comment about Philip Morris' way of saving Czechoslovakia money (smoke cigarettes, and thus less people stay alive to draw a pension) seems strangely reminiscent of the neoliberal Gordon Brown's Public-Private-Partnerships. But with Brown's position on the banks, Brown placed the UK Govt in a perfect position to explore some of Sandel's views but seemingly, Brown has too much political fear or understanding to do so. Maybe John Prescott would do a better job as Prime Minister, probably not what some would want. We can only hope that, from the other side of party politics, the Governator can do more in California - but I'm equally gloomy about that.
IMO: Oddly enough, the Governator seems to have been at my wedding breakfast some 15 years ago although I can't remember whether either of us realised it at the time, possibly not. Now his State of California has gone broke but my "Institute for Fundamental Studies", which has had Associates in over 32 countries and having had several Nobel prizewinners as associates hasn't. In fact in a minor way, the "Institute for Fundamental Studies" is flourishing.
On the Reith lectures this year, Michael Sandel, Harvard Professor of Government, delivered four lectures about the prospects of a new politics of the common good.
IMO: I heard Sandel's lectures but unfortunately do not see his ideas working in practice yet, to put it mildly. His comment about Philip Morris' way of saving Czechoslovakia money (smoke cigarettes, and thus less people stay alive to draw a pension) seems strangely reminiscent of the neoliberal Gordon Brown's Public-Private-Partnerships. But with Brown's position on the banks, Brown placed the UK Govt in a perfect position to explore some of Sandel's views but seemingly, Brown has too much political fear or understanding to do so. Maybe John Prescott would do a better job as Prime Minister, probably not what some would want. We can only hope that, from the other side of party politics, the Governator can do more in California - but I'm equally gloomy about that.
# posted by uv : 7:27 PM
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