Afghanistan Strategy
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Eight American soldiers and four Afghan security officers were killed in an attack this weekend in a remote part of Afghanistan. It occurred less than 20 miles from a similar attack last year in Kunar Province that killed nine Americans. We speak with Washington Post National Security Reporter Greg Jaffe, who’s author of the forthcoming book “The Fourth Star“. Jaffe has written a series of reports looking back at the Kunar attack and what it says about US strategy in the region.
Rational Irrationality
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Why is capitalism so crash-prone? It’s not only greed, says our guest John Cassidy. The real causes are much scarier and harder to deal with. Cassidy points out that because of the way the U.S. economy is structured, it may be more risky for a bank to sit out of a bubble than to dive in. John Cassidy is staff writer for the New Yorker and author of “How Markets Fail: The Logic of Economic Calamities“.
African Drought
A carcass of drought-stricken cow is seen near cattle, in Kitengela, Kenya, 50km (31 miles) east of the capital Nairobi, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009. (AP)
The drought in east Africa is taking a toll on humans and animals. The lack of rain is hitting herders especially hard because they depend on livestock for food and income. The BBC’s Will Ross reports from the Turkana region of northwest Kenya.
Asia Rising in Higher Ed
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Is America losing its edge when it comes to higher education? Even though U.S. universities are considered the best in the world, Asian governments are pumping more money than ever into theirs. And many public schools in the U.S. are seeing state funding cut back. The Chronicle of Higher Education is out with a special investigation into the rise of higher education in Asia. We speak to senior reporter Karin Fischer.
Hurry Down Sunshine
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Michael Greenberg’s book “Hurry Down Sunshine“, details the story of his teenage daughter’s madness. We spoke to him last year when his book came out.
Music from the show
- Peter Dixon, “Nagog Woods”
- Charles Mingus, “Pedal Point Blues”
- Sonny Rollins, “Get Happy”
- The Lickets, “They Turned Our Deserts into Fire”
- Ahmad Jamal, “Patterns”
- Ashley MacIsaac, “Sleepy Maggie”
It’s always hard to hear about what our mania is like for those who love us. It’s like a force of nature to us too.
But having those people who stick with us.. just like getting the right meds, it is more valuable than any could realize.
Posted by Mark, on October 5th, 2009 at 2:00 pmRational Irrationality
Much of the discussion focuses on the notion that the postulate that “markets self-regulate” is false.
I think the postulate is probably true. The problem is that a lot more people would get hurt in the process if markets were allowed to find new equilibria on their own.
Government interference in the markets takes many forms. Interest rates is one; the 1970s push to get “more women” into the workforce is one; the push to get banks to lend to unqualified homebuyers is still another. As the markets respond to each of these new “forces” they may go farther, faster (or slower), or in a different direction than the architects of the government actions intended.
Posted by Richard Cole, on October 5th, 2009 at 2:34 pmyesterday’s topic on the decline of higher education was incredibly frustrating.
you cite statistics from the OECD showing a 5% drop in foreign students enrolled in American universities between the years 2000 to present. But what important event happened in 2001 that lead to tighter restrictions of visas? why was this not mentioned? Does your guest not find this important?
Unfortunately Karen Fischer’s article at The Chronicle of Higher Education is subscription only, but this whole segment (and perhaps her article) seem to be resting on numbers that many simply be correlative, not causative.
Posted by justin johnson, on October 6th, 2009 at 12:28 pm