links for 2008-10-03

• The ISM Index breaks the magic number - macroblog
• Fed Power Becoming More Concentrated in Washington - Real Time Economics
• John Cochrane on Why the Bailout Plan Would Be a Disaster - Freakonomics
• The Bailout - Michael Spence
• More from Morris Davis - Richard Green
• Educating ourselves about education - Ed Glaeser
• Development Doesn't Require Big Government - William Easterly
• Some Mark-to-Market for Your Morning - Economix
• How the Bailout Was Supposed to Have Worked - Athenian Abroad
• Antidumping protection: Good for bad firms but bad for good firms - Vox EU
• We Need to Recapitalize the Banks - Edmund Phelps
• Recapitalise the banking system - George Soros
• Bailout Redux: The Real Choice Ahead - Robert Reich's Blog

Comments

[anne]

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1161473

October 2, 2008

Natal Homing and Connectivity in Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Populations
By Jay R. Rooker, David H. Secor, Gregorio DeMetrio, Ryan Schloesser, Barbara A. Block, and John D. Neilson

Atlantic bluefin tuna populations are in steep decline, and an improved understanding of connectivity between individuals from eastern (Mediterranean Sea) and western (Gulf of Mexico) spawning areas is needed to manage remaining fisheries. Chemical signatures in the otoliths of yearlings from regional nurseries were distinct and served as natural tags to assess natal homing and mixing. Adults showed high rates of natal homing to both eastern and western spawning areas. Trans-Atlantic movement (east to west) was significant and size-dependent, with individuals of Mediterranean origin mixing with the western population in the U.S. Atlantic. The largest (oldest) bluefin tuna collected near the northern extent of their range in North American waters were almost exclusively of western origin, indicating that this region represents critical habitat for the western population.

[anne]

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/10/3/headlines#3

October 3, 2008

Obama Aide Suggests Gates Could Stay on as Defense Secretary
By Amy Goodman

A senior Obama adviser has suggested Defense Secretary Robert Gates might be a holdover from the Bush administration if Democrats win the White House. The adviser, former Navy Secretary Richard Danzig, said Gates could do “even better” under an Obama presidency. Danzig went on to say Obama has agreed with many of Gates’s policies as head of the Pentagon. Gates joined the Bush administration in December 2006 and has firmly opposed any timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.

[Peace in our time, or something.]

[anne]

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/10/3/headlines#10

October 3, 2008

US Barring Contraceptive Distribution in 6 African Countries
B Amy Goodman

Women’s rights advocates are criticizing the Bush administration for imposing new restrictions on family-planning funding in several African countries. The State Department has told US aid recipients in Africa to terminate a program that allows for the distribution of contraceptives to African women. The program is run by the leading family planning group Marie Stopes International. Critics say the restriction will have a major effect on programs in at least six African countries.

[Thinking of women, always.]

[anne]

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2008/10/defense-department-will-pay-private-u.html

October 3, 2008

"The Defense Department will pay private U.S. contractors in Iraq up to $300 million over the next three years to produce news stories, entertainment programs and public service advertisements for the Iraqi media in an effort to 'engage and inspire' the local population to support U.S. objectives and the Iraqi government." * You are telling me that this program is restricted to Iraqi media? Like there is no evidence of this in the rest of the Arab media?

* http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/02/AR2008100204223.html

-- As'ad AbuKhalil

[Please, President Obama, keep on Secretary Gates.]

[anne]

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/03/raising-the-white-flag-of-surrender-to-medicare/

October 3, 2008

Raising the White Flag of Surrender — to Medicare
By Paul Krugman

Freedom in danger [Portrait of Ronald Reagan]

Unbelievable. Sarah Palin finished her closing remarks by quoting Ronald Reagan:

"It was Ronald Reagan who said that freedom is always just one generation away from extinction. We don't pass it to our children in the bloodstream; we have to fight for it and protect it, and then hand it to them so that they shall do the same, or we're going to find ourselves spending our sunset years telling our children and our children's children about a time in America, back in the day, when men and women were free."

When did he say this? It was on a recording he made for Operation Coffeecup * — a campaign organized by the American Medical Association to block the passage of Medicare. Doctors' wives were supposed to organize coffee klatches for patients, where they would play the Reagan recording, which declared that Medicare would lead us to totalitarianism.

You couldn't make this stuff up.

* http://www.larrydewitt.net/Essays/Reagan.htm

[kthomas]

Raygun Ronnie was the ultimate bloviator.

[anne]

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2008/10/when-joe-biden-kicked-hizbullah-out-of.html

October 3, 2008

When Joe Biden kicked Hizbullah * out of Lebanon.

* http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/NewsDesk.nsf/getstory?openform&6F7F064D73478548C22574D7002B525A

-- As'ad AbuKhalil

[Mistakes, repeated mistakes, will be made, no matter the experience, really. Who noticed though.]

[anne]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/04/world/asia/04afghan.html?hp=&pagewanted=print

October 3, 2008

French Cable Proposes Afghan ‘Dictator’
By ELAINE SCIOLINO

The coded diplomatic cable also quotes the British ambassador as predicting that the campaign against the Taliban will fail.

[Huh? Am I reading right? Is this Sarkozy and Kuchner, the folks who were all over saving Afghanistan's women? Why always the women?]

[anne]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/03/world/asia/03pstan.html?ref=world&pagewanted=print

October 3, 2008

Confronting Taliban, Pakistan Finds Itself at War
By JANE PERLEZ and PIR ZUBAIR SHAH

The Pakistani Army is engaged in full-scale battles with militants, and an estimated 250,000 people have fled.

[hari]

During this critical week, Anne, you've not noticed the silver-lining to Bush/Rice accomplishment on getting Senate and House to approve the 123 Nuclear Power Agreement with India - a non-signatory to NTP.

For more than 34yrs India was treated as a paraiha on nuclear energy know-how and transfer from West because it tested a nuclear bomb by using nuclear material from, I think, a Canadian nuclear plant in India.

Now, a sequence of policy decisions by IAEA Board and NSG -suppliers of nuclear materials including uranium - and India-US Agreement signed and delivered by both Houses of Congress is a first of its kind in the world (cf. Iran, N Korea, et.al.).

So, as a global political development, this is a significant watershed in US foreign policy towards India, in particular. And Rice is jumping on her next week flight to Delhi to cement the relationship in Southasian continent.

[Julio]

hari says...
"During this critical week, Anne, you've not noticed the silver-lining to Bush/Rice accomplishment on getting Senate and House to approve the 123 Nuclear Power Agreement with India - a non-signatory to NTP."

hari, maybe Anne was just being kind. One can only take so much bad news at one time.

[hari]

Not only is it a significant employment and investment project for US firms (GE, etc) but nuclear plants for electricity generation will also mean employment for US firms in India.

[anne]

Hari:

During this critical week, Anne, you've not noticed the silver-lining to Bush/Rice accomplishment on getting Senate and House to approve the 123 Nuclear Power Agreement with India - a non-signatory to Non Proliferation Treaty.

[Please explain further since the issue is important but I do not properly understand the ramifications.]

[anne]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/opinion/30tue2.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

September 30, 2008

A Bad India Deal

The House of Representatives approved President Bush's ill-conceived nuclear agreement with India last week, shrugging off concerns that the deal could make it even harder to rein in Iran's (and others') nuclear ambitions. We hope the Senate shows better judgment.

For 30 years, ever since India used its civilian nuclear program to produce a bomb, the world has been barred from selling any nuclear technology to India. The deal — pressed hard by American business and India's lobbyists — would allow the United States to break that ban and open the way for the rest of the world to sell reactors and fuel to India as well.

President Bush and his aides were so eager for a foreign-policy success that they didn't even try to get India to limit its weapons program in return. They got no promise from India to stop producing bombing-making material, no promise not to expand its arsenal and no promise not to resume nuclear testing.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee abdicated its oversight responsibilities. It held no public hearings and sent the deal straight to the floor without even a committee vote. We are befuddled as to how the committee's chairman, Representative Howard Berman, could say he has "concerns about ambiguities in the agreement" and still vote for it.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has done only slightly more work. It held one hearing at which administration cheerleaders were asked to testify.

India is a democracy, a rising power that has sent many thousands of talented people to live and work in the United States. Mr. Bush has correctly chosen to build a new relationship with India.

But he erred in making the nuclear deal the centerpiece of that relationship. And he erred in assuming that he could selectively break the nuclear rules for India and still argue that other countries had to do a lot more to rein in Iran. The deal approved by the House fails to meet legal requirements set previously by Congress.

For example, it is not accompanied by a commitment by countries engaged in nuclear trade to ban transfers to India of enrichment and reprocessing equipment that is essential to weapons production. Also, it does not include a credible plan by the Indians for separating their military and civilian nuclear programs. The Senate should postpone action until the next Congress can figure out how to limit the damage from this deal.

[Julio]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/04/world/asia/04afghan.html?hp=&pagewanted=print

October 3, 2008

French Cable Proposes Afghan ‘Dictator’
By ELAINE SCIOLINO

An excellent summary of the situation, the (sensasionalistic) headline notwithstanding.

[hari]

Anne - official link on State Dept blog is well written and I was just listening to Dod/Lugar speak at State to a joint official gathering of US-Indian reps.

This story will run and run and run....as long as you can imagine.

[hari]

Forget about NYT editorial. It's full of misinformed ideas and propaganda. Although India is a non-signatory to NPT, unlike Iran, it has established its own bonafide with IAEA on non-transfer of of its bomb know-how over the years. That's why IAEA approved its exceptional ruling on India - supported bu US and others.

NYT editorials nowdays are living on the moon, I think!
They've no iota of relevance to realpolitk and official policy scrutiny by IAEA.

[anne]

Hari, well done.

http://www.state.gov/p/sca/rls/fs/2008/109567.htm

September 15, 2008

U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative

President Bush and Indian Prime Minister Singh announced the U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative in their Joint Statement on July 18, 2005. This Initiative simultaneously provides a process for developing civil nuclear cooperation to help meet India’s growing energy requirements and strengthens the nonproliferation regime by bringing India into closer conformity with international nonproliferation standards and practices.

With approval of the safeguards agreement by the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the Nuclear Suppliers Group exception now agreed, two of three key steps have been accomplished in bringing civil nuclear cooperation between the United States and India to fruition. The locus of the initiative has now shifted from Vienna and New Delhi to Washington for the third and final step -- approval of the proposed U.S.-India Agreement for Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation (the so-called “123 Agreement”) by the U.S. Congress. Congressional approval would be the culmination of an unprecedented three-year effort by the U.S. and India, working together as they have never before -- in a way that deepens our strategic partnership and strengthens global nonproliferation principles while providing trade and investment opportunities that will assist India to meet its energy requirements in an environmentally responsible way....

[anne]

Interestingly, all tuna fish are warm-blooded.