Author Archive

The Fierce Urgency of Tomorrow »

By Chris Martin on Mar 8, 2009 in Current Affairs, Stem Cell Research | View Comments

(This astonishing story is bumped up from Friday late because Obama’s action is reprehensible. This story is also up again because it is a perfect intro to PatRacimora’s new cartoon about Obama and stem cell research.) As far as I can tell, executive orders can be signed relatively quickly and easily. Certainly, it can be [...]

The Path To Destruction: Ignoring the Plight of the People »

By Chris Martin on Mar 2, 2009 in Current Affairs | View Comments

I remember the old days, when heavy metal was considered devil music. Well, sometimes the devil music gets it right. Take the Megadeth song “Symphony of Destruction” on the left and some of the lyrics: “You take a mortal man,/ And put him in control/ Watch him become a god.” One of the problems that [...]

Is Our Leaders Learning? »

By Chris Martin on Feb 21, 2009 in Current Affairs | View Comments

I don’t have the same experience or smarts as Paul Krugman, but I too have learned a similar lesson: The most valuable lesson I learned from the year I spent in Washington (1982-1983, on the staff of the Council of Economic advisers . . . ) was the extent to which senior government figures have [...]

Rationing Away Bad Medicine »

By Chris Martin on Feb 16, 2009 in Current Affairs | View Comments

Let’s imagine the following scenario. You are trying to put together a puzzle that has the identity of a killer, but you have no idea what that killer looks like. OK, with enough work you can fit the puzzle together to figure out what the killer looks like. But imagine you didn’t have all the [...]

When 500 thousand feels like 500 million »

By Chris Martin on Feb 6, 2009 in Current Affairs, Unemployment | View Comments

I’ve heard bigger word stumbles than Pelosi’s mistake. But perhaps if we approached our current economic situation as if we were losing 500 million jobs, there’d be a more determined sense of urgency. I’m sure you all have your own similar stories, but I wanted to share a recent experience. I recently went to a [...]

Obama’s chance for leadership on FEMA »

By Chris Martin on Feb 4, 2009 in Current Affairs, Obama Administration | View Comments

If there was a single event from January 2001 to January 2009 that epitomizes the Bush administration it has to be the reaction to the problems from Hurricane Katrina. The lead up to the storm and the actions in the aftermath was a breathtaking display of incompetence. Unlike so many Bush blunders that the media [...]

Hope Takes Time To Heal [The Economy] »

By Chris Martin on Jan 28, 2009 in Current Affairs | View Comments

(bumped up by Susan from last night — this is a great backgrounder on the stimulus package, which the House will be voting on shortly) I find Mariah Carey’s song fitting when discussing the current economic climate. You don’t have to be an economic expert to see that the economy sucks right now. Here in [...]

Obama, Favreau, and Hillary at State »

By Chris Martin on Jan 27, 2009 in Current Affairs | View Comments

This is an post I wrote a couple weeks ago–before the inauguration–discussing Hillary’s role in the new Administration. As Susan and Ani note, Hillary has been busy. As a whole host of issues arising from potential discussions with Iran where competing players will be jockeying for position (such as Susan Rice) we will get a [...]

Time for change or do we have to wait for another day? »

By Chris Martin on Jan 23, 2009 in Current Affairs | View Comments

I have to admit that some of Obama’s early executive orders are promising (I’ll keep you guessing as to which ones for now). But since Obama was billed as being able to usher in heaven on earth, I’m expecting big things from the guy. Two quick things I’m looking at with deep interest: Guantanamo closing [...]

Mary Schapiro And What To Do When They Don’t Seem To Care About Us »

By Chris Martin on Jan 20, 2009 in Banking Institutions, Barack Obama, Economy, Media | View Comments

I’m with Larry, no matter what we think about Obama he will be the president tomorrow and we have to figure out how we move on from here. In my first post, I discussed some of Obama’s early signals and how they provide a lens that shapes the way I will be viewing the Obama [...]

Signals: What Will an Obama Presidency Be Like? »

By Chris Martin on Jan 16, 2009 in Barack Obama | View Comments

Ed. Note: Bumped up by Susan so everyone can read it this morning. This is a guest post by a valued friend of PatRacimora, our great cartoonist. ……………………………………………… One of my favorite episodes of Seinfeld is the pilot. If you haven’t seen the episode, it is about George and Jerry trying to interpret the mixed [...]