World Economic Forum Summit on the Global Agenda in Dubai
Bob just returned from WEF discussions on short term and long term responses to the world financial crisis. He focused much of his attention on issues of capital investment and in particular, short term vs. long term investing. He emailed from the conference to report that he was very pleased and motivated by the discussions. Afterward, he compiled his thoughts and is sharing them here.
The World Economic Forum has posted photos from the Summit.
New video this week
The Disclose Bill (H.R. 5175) was passed by the House but is stalled in the Senate and is slipping lower on the priority list every day. It’s designed to regulate political spending by government contractors and foreign nationals, as well as beefing up disclosure requirements — essentially trying to fix some of the damage caused by the Citizens United decision. The issue of foreign donations is one that has received a lot of coverage, but as Bob asks: what is a foreign corporation in this world of multinational business and investing? Still, he says passage of this bill would be worthwhile. “Politics says the Citizens United decision is unacceptable unless we deal with the problem of foreigners in American politics….Citizens United is a dreadful decision and if they have to overrule it by the inappositeness of having foreigners in American politics they can get the right answer for the wrong reasons.” Watch the video
Recent reading
Unwarranted Influence: Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Military-Industrial Complex by James Ledbetter. Yale University Press, 2011 (but it’s on Amazon now).
“Untellable Truths” by George Lakoff in Huffington Post, 12/10/10.
He’s also been referring back to Capitalism without owners will fail: A Policymakers guide to reform which he wrote with Allen Sykes in 2002.