Proof of Google Censorship & a Path to Freedom

My professional life depends on rationally separating facts from fiction, evidence-based economic analysis, data-driven decision-making, and real-world experience. In fact, I’ve even written about the difference between truth, fiction, and propaganda. So, what I’m about to share with you is not coming from somebody who shouts “conspiracy!” without substantial evidence. Background Summary. As some of […]

Political Party Systems in Germany vs. France

Germany has such an extraordinary level of institutional integrity and higher quality governance than virtually any nation on Earth. So I spent some time studying their system and contrasted it against France’s, which has a lot of features that are similar to the U.S. political system. Germany’s Party System Germany’s party system is usually classified […]

Truth & Reconciliation: Germany vs. Japan After WWII

This has always been an interesting philosophical and cultural question: After World War II, in general, why did German society accept responsibility for Nazi atrocities while Japanese society did not accept responsibility for Japanese atrocities? (The Asian Holocaust claimed at least twice as many lives as the Nazi Holocaust.) There were several cultural, logistical, and strategic reasons. […]

The Virus That Spawns the Disease of Terrorism

What International Relations framework is most capable of dealing with global terrorism in the 21st Century and beyond? This is a question I have been asked several times. There is a short answer and a slightly longer answer. The short answer: Constructivism is the best approach because it’s not blinded by ideology and special interest […]

What’s Really Wrong with the Banking System?

Many people have a vague sense that the financial system is broken and corrupt, but they often don’t know how to explain exactly what is wrong. This is understandable because there is so much noise, false information and propaganda spewed in the mainstream media. Additionally, many politicians and corporate executives deliberately manipulate public perceptions of […]

The Switzerland of South America: “Freedom or Death”

“Freedom or death” is Uruguay’s national motto. Those three words give us meaningful insight into Uruguay’s national psyche, its cultural affinity for the principles of civil liberty and self-determination, and its deep yearning for economic freedom. From its earliest days in the mid-19th Century, the modern state of Uruguay has been a nation with a […]

The Mechanics of a Global Wealth Transfer

Economic Models Collapse in the Real World. Economic neoliberalism is a theoretical economic framework that many academics and political and business leaders like to promote because it performs well inside clean-room laboratory conditions (i.e., economic models).1 Some people embrace these models in good faith; others use them strategically to manipulate and deceive. Regardless, in the […]

Transnational Economic Cannibals

The Genesis of Today’s Global Economy. When the international trade regime (GATT, WTO, NAFTA, etc.) that dominates the world today was created between 1947 and the 1990s, it was based on several assumptions about economics, politics, and social welfare. These trade agreements and their implicit assumptions were shaped by the politicians and corporate executives of […]

The Rise of Nuclear Trump

Americans Have a Choice Between Two Insane Options. They are forced to choose between an insane foreign policy and an insane nuclear weapons policy. Recently, I had a conversation with a friend (I’ll call him “Johnny”.) who is the president of a prominent geopolitical think-tank that focuses on international security issues. The issue of nuclear proliferation came […]

Why Aren’t There More Women in Politics?

The Nature vs. Nurture False Dichotomy. It requires a kind of religious zealotry or willful blindness to believe that biology is the primary determinant of social behaviors and gender roles in any human society. The endless and banal “nature vs. nurture” debate reflects a deeply false dichotomy. To believe that human behavior is derived from […]