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Government 101

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What does it take for a developing nation to move ahead and join the ranks of the developed world?  For all the tremendous advances for at least some developing nations in the last decade or more, there is still a gap.  Brazil is not quite developed nation yet on the eve of their 2 year long coming out party due to start with the World Cup next year.  It’s not that the people aren’t trying, it’s not that the nation doesn’t want to be there.  It’s that it’s hard, dedicated work.  It’s that … the problem is almost too simple to understand.

The fundamentals of running a government always seem to slip between the cracks of the politics that define any nation.  The US is no different from any other in that regard – look no further than the calls to first push us over a “fiscal cliff” and now perhaps shut down the government for the lack of a budget (or continuing resolution).  But that’s what it’s all about, regardless.  And in developing nations we can see what the global leadership crisis really looks like – a lack of Government 101.

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Cabinet Government

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There are basically two types of Democratic-Republics in the world – Parliamentary, or a Prime Minister led government, and a strong President based system.  Hybrids of various kinds involving monarchs and other systems with varying degrees of power abound, but every democratically elected government in the world falls into one of these categories.  The person who shows up at the international conferences has one of these titles.

But is that the only way to go?  The situation in Egypt, among other places, has led me to wonder if there is some way a nation with a history and tradition of strong leadership might do better under a system of more than one nationally elected leader with defined roles and a real balance of power between them.  I call it an “Elected Cabinet”, and the inspiration comes from the laboratories of democracy, the US States.

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Bezos Buys Post, Speculation Rampant

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When Amazon’s Jeff Bezos was announced as the future owner of the Washington Post, the world was curious.  After a little bit of time passed, the deacons of professional journalism did what they often decry – worked themselves into a tizzy of speculation.  Notable press critic Jay Rosen of NYU noted that Amazon booted Wikileaks off of its servers as soon as the government asked them to.  “That’s not answering the bell for freedom of information. That’s doing what the surveillance state requires, and relying on a legalism to justify it,” he wrote.

Others have been more alarmist.  The Post’s own Allan Sloan asked in an op-ed for more disclosure of Bezos’ personal politics:  “I’d at least like to hear from Bezos what his beliefs are and to have him reconcile the question of his being a libertarian who’s benefited immensely from taxpayers’ R&D money.”

What are Bezos’ plans and more importantly the philosophy that guided him to buy the Post?  We will find out.  But there may be much less to it than something to fear.

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Retail “Challenges”

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The news whacked Wall Street and set off a slide of 1.4%.  WalMart, the biggest retailer, reported slow growth and earnings below expectations for the second quarter.  “The retail environment remains challenging in the U.S. and our international markets, as customers are cautious in their spending,” according to Chief Financial Officer Charles Holley.  Should we be worried about it?

Probably not.  While a turnaround consumer spending would be the quickest and easiest way to goose the economy and put people back to work, it shouldn’t come at the expense of fundamentals such as repairing household finances.  A little caution now could make for a stronger economy in the long run – and that picture is continuing to look a bit brighter.

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The Junker Brotherhood

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This is mostly a repeat from 2007.  I still need a few glorious summer daze off here and there.

Like many good things in life, it happened both on purpose and by accident. I consider it a side effect of being a father, more than anything.

After years of car-free bliss, riding the bus where I had to, my (now ex) wife told me it was time to have a car. What with the baby on the way and all the running around like scared gophers that goes with it, something had to happen. Like many of her announcements, it came with a plan – did I mention we aren’t married anymore? This plan involved a friend with a 1985 Escort that had been parked for a while. The deal was this – $100 if I could get it running. In about a half an hour I did (ignition wires were shot, is all).
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