If you visit the Wikipedia page Casualties of the Iraq War you'll find a 2012 report from UNICEF stating that between 800,000 and 1 million orphans, all under 18 years old with either one or both parents killed, were created in the Iraq war. You'll also find 2 reports stating that 600,000 civilian violent deaths were created as early as 2006, and the estimate goes up to 1 million by 2010. Not all civilian violent deaths occurred to parents with children. My point, it is likely that the estimates of the Iraqi civilian violent death count are under-estimated. Hans Blix was the chief of the UN agency looking for weapons of mass destruction; Blix stated that the Bush administration was on a "witch hunt", and the facts did not matter. No WMD were found. The threat was non-existent, it was a war of aggression cloaked as a pre-emptive war to prevent aggression. In an article recently I read that 85% of U.S. soldiers believed in 2005 that Saddam Hussein was responsible for the 9-11 attacks. The costs in dollars are not as great as other costs. The Pope called it immoral, the UN Secretary General called it illegal. Wikipedia's article Opposition to the Iraq War points out that most of the world condemned the war, and 54 nations formally protested it. A former Nuremberg Trial prosecutor called for the criminal prosecution of GW Bush. A long list of U.S. highest-ranking military officers opposed the war.
If you visit the Wikipedia page Casualties of the Iraq War you'll find a 2012 report from UNICEF stating that between 800,000 and 1 million orphans, all under 18 years old with either one or both parents killed, were created in the Iraq war. You'll also find 2 reports stating that 600,000 civilian violent deaths were created as early as 2006, and the estimate goes up to 1 million by 2010. Not all civillian violent deaths occurred to parents with children. My point, it is likely that the estimates of the Iraqi civilian violent death count are under-estimated. Hans Blix was the chief of the UN agency looking for weapons of mass destruction; Blix stated that the Bush administration was on a "witch hunt", and the facts did not matter. No WMD were found. The threat was non-existent, it was a war of agression cloaked as a pre-emptive war to prevent agression. In an article recently I read that 85% of U.S. soldiers believed in 2005 that Saddam Hussein was responsible for the 9-11 attacks. The costs in dollars are not as great as other costs. Good article though.
Federal debt reached a peak in 1946 exceeding 120% of GDP after extensive borrowing. Did this negatively impact economic performance? Between 1949 - 1979 family income grew averaging 2.2% to 2.5% per year among all income groups, all five income quintiles. Between 1979 - 2007 it averaged, per lower to upper quintiles, 0.0%, 0.4%, 0.6%, 0.9%, and 1.5%. The debt/GDP level decreased to around during the 1949-1979 period while marginal tax levels at the top exceeded 70%. This essay begins with an error. I found it unconvincing.
84% of the world's wealth is held by 10% of its adults, and 44% in the hands of 1%, according to Credit Suisse Bank's World Wealth Report, 2012. In our present system assets are not allocated to enterprises unless a return on investment is a reasonable expectation, and are stored in non-productive speculative "investments". In the U.S. the mean average household net worth is $498,000 for all 118 million households, yet 50% of households own only 1.1% of all net worth which amounts to about $11,000 per family according to the latest SCF from the Federal Reserve. The top-wealthiest 1% in the U.S. own perhaps 45% of all wealth if assets placed in foreign tax-free tax-havens are accounted for, using the information from the recent McKinsey report from the Tax Justice Network. While global assets grew by 17% last year, unemployment grew to almost 200 million globally as reported by the International Labor Organization, a U.N. agency, in the NYTimes 1.23.13. As wages decrease, aggregate demand decreases, employment to population ratios decrease globally and in the U.S. the ratio has dropped from 64% in 2000 to 58% in 2012. A new model for the economy that includes Yunus' new corporations will emerge out of social necessity and fairness --- "maximizing shareholder value" and massive accumulation of personal wealth will be viewed as socially destructive, repugnant, excessive, selfish. "When there is more for me and less for you, even if you must die" will be recognized for what it is, immoral.
The Hydrogen Solution
There were days last summer when [Germans] generated more than half the power that they used from solar panels.”
The Iraq War Ten Years Later
If you visit the Wikipedia page Casualties of the Iraq War you'll find a 2012 report from UNICEF stating that between 800,000 and 1 million orphans, all under 18 years old with either one or both parents killed, were created in the Iraq war. You'll also find 2 reports stating that 600,000 civilian violent deaths were created as early as 2006, and the estimate goes up to 1 million by 2010. Not all civilian violent deaths occurred to parents with children. My point, it is likely that the estimates of the Iraqi civilian violent death count are under-estimated. Hans Blix was the chief of the UN agency looking for weapons of mass destruction; Blix stated that the Bush administration was on a "witch hunt", and the facts did not matter. No WMD were found. The threat was non-existent, it was a war of aggression cloaked as a pre-emptive war to prevent aggression. In an article recently I read that 85% of U.S. soldiers believed in 2005 that Saddam Hussein was responsible for the 9-11 attacks. The costs in dollars are not as great as other costs. The Pope called it immoral, the UN Secretary General called it illegal. Wikipedia's article Opposition to the Iraq War points out that most of the world condemned the war, and 54 nations formally protested it. A former Nuremberg Trial prosecutor called for the criminal prosecution of GW Bush. A long list of U.S. highest-ranking military officers opposed the war.
The Middle East’s Lost Decade
If you visit the Wikipedia page Casualties of the Iraq War you'll find a 2012 report from UNICEF stating that between 800,000 and 1 million orphans, all under 18 years old with either one or both parents killed, were created in the Iraq war. You'll also find 2 reports stating that 600,000 civilian violent deaths were created as early as 2006, and the estimate goes up to 1 million by 2010. Not all civillian violent deaths occurred to parents with children. My point, it is likely that the estimates of the Iraqi civilian violent death count are under-estimated. Hans Blix was the chief of the UN agency looking for weapons of mass destruction; Blix stated that the Bush administration was on a "witch hunt", and the facts did not matter. No WMD were found. The threat was non-existent, it was a war of agression cloaked as a pre-emptive war to prevent agression. In an article recently I read that 85% of U.S. soldiers believed in 2005 that Saddam Hussein was responsible for the 9-11 attacks. The costs in dollars are not as great as other costs. Good article though.
Lessons from the Fiscal Cliff
Federal debt reached a peak in 1946 exceeding 120% of GDP after extensive borrowing. Did this negatively impact economic performance? Between 1949 - 1979 family income grew averaging 2.2% to 2.5% per year among all income groups, all five income quintiles. Between 1979 - 2007 it averaged, per lower to upper quintiles, 0.0%, 0.4%, 0.6%, 0.9%, and 1.5%. The debt/GDP level decreased to around during the 1949-1979 period while marginal tax levels at the top exceeded 70%. This essay begins with an error. I found it unconvincing.
The Social-Business Revolution
84% of the world's wealth is held by 10% of its adults, and 44% in the hands of 1%, according to Credit Suisse Bank's World Wealth Report, 2012. In our present system assets are not allocated to enterprises unless a return on investment is a reasonable expectation, and are stored in non-productive speculative "investments". In the U.S. the mean average household net worth is $498,000 for all 118 million households, yet 50% of households own only 1.1% of all net worth which amounts to about $11,000 per family according to the latest SCF from the Federal Reserve. The top-wealthiest 1% in the U.S. own perhaps 45% of all wealth if assets placed in foreign tax-free tax-havens are accounted for, using the information from the recent McKinsey report from the Tax Justice Network. While global assets grew by 17% last year, unemployment grew to almost 200 million globally as reported by the International Labor Organization, a U.N. agency, in the NYTimes 1.23.13. As wages decrease, aggregate demand decreases, employment to population ratios decrease globally and in the U.S. the ratio has dropped from 64% in 2000 to 58% in 2012. A new model for the economy that includes Yunus' new corporations will emerge out of social necessity and fairness --- "maximizing shareholder value" and massive accumulation of personal wealth will be viewed as socially destructive, repugnant, excessive, selfish. "When there is more for me and less for you, even if you must die" will be recognized for what it is, immoral.