Our top five reads of the day:
- Mike Mandel laments the wasteful asset allocation of the 2000s: “Here’s a chart that to me sums up the past decade. This was supposed to be the Information Revolution…but what we mostly did was build homes.”
- The Economist examines the conundrums of cutting military spending: “Mr Gates is grappling with the conundrum faced by many of his predecessors: the rising costs of military manpower and equipment, which strain even America’s gargantuan $700 billion defence budget (almost as much as the defence spending of the rest of the world put together). Just to keep up America’s existing combat units, he notes, costs 2-3% more each year.”
- E.J. Dionne Jr. urges President Obama to be a better salesman for a coherent governing philosophy: “In a democracy, separating governing from “politicking” is impossible. “Politicking” is nothing less than the ongoing effort to convince free citizens of the merits of a set of ideas, policies and decisions. Voters feel better about politicians who put what they are doing in a compelling context.”
- Derek Thompson makes an argument for Social Security Reform now: “Social Security isn’t unique. It taxes something we think is good (wages) to pay for something we also think is good (seniors’ benefits), just like the rest of the federal budget. We’re not going to find a full-body solution to our debt problem in December, or in 2011, or in 2012. We should not even try. But we have to start somewhere. Let’s start with the backbone.”
- Jonathan Weber explores the obstacles standing in the way of high-speed rail in California: “High-speed rail is at a critical juncture, and poses a test for Bay Area communities, and indeed for the state as a whole: Do we still have the political mettle, the financial wherewithal and the engineering competence to execute something on this scale?”
