Tim Fernholz

Peggy Noonan‘s columns are typically rambling disquisitions about her social life among elite Republicans and how she feels about that, and today’s offering is no exception — we get to hear about McCain’s quiet dignity, how Bush kept us safe, a holiday party in NoVa, and a reference to a report on nuclear weapons. But […]

As we debate the necessity of the automaker bailout, there’s always the question of who is in the best position to assess the need for such a drastic and expensive step. Listening to everyone is a good idea, but because I’m a rational liberal I tend to give more credence to economists who have studied […]

Jared Bernstein of the Economic Policy Institute has been tapped to be Vice President-elect Joe Biden’s chief economist and economic policy adviser. Bernstein was an Obama adviser during the campaign, and has done great work at EPI and elsewhere; he also represents the most liberal member of the new administration’s announced economic team. He was […]

In November, 533,000 people lost their jobs. It’s the largest one month loss of jobs since 1974, and our current recession is now the longest since the Great Depression. Luckily, economists know what to do, and there exists a plan: Under [Obama’s] stimulus plan, more than half the money would probably be channeled into public […]

It turns out that Obama is considering plans to give a speech from a Muslim capital sometime during his first term, and Helene Cooper thinks it will be Cairo. …Egypt is perfect. It’s certainly Muslim enough, populous enough and relevant enough. It’s an American ally, but there are enough tensions in the relationship that the […]

One recurring problem throughout the past few months has been finding a way to prevent the massive wave of foreclosures resulting from the popping of the housing bubble. Taking some action to stop foreclosure is a good idea both for the large-scale economy — relieve pressure on toxic securities — and the small — prevent […]

Repeatedly. The New York Times has a news analysis arguing, once again, that Obama is somehow not going to be ending the Iraq war as he promised. I thought we’d dealt with this. Here’s what they say: “I believe that 16 months is the right time frame, but, as I’ve said consistently, I will listen […]

Isaac Chotiner rounds up the debate about what we should call a city in India. Essentially, Chris Hitchens thinks we ought to refuse to recognize the Indian name for the city, Mumbai: When Salman Rushdie wrote, in The Moor’s Last Sigh in 1995, that “those who hated India, those who sought to ruin it, would […]

It’s been noted that Richard Holbrooke’s review of a new intellectual biography of McGeorge Bundy is excellent, and a liberal signal from the well-regarded diplomat who is now being spoken of as a possible special envoy to one of the world’s trouble zones, perhaps Afghanistan-Pakistan-India. It’s easy to see Holbrooke’s smart recognition of past mistakes […]