With great power may come great responsibility, but middle power certainly has its role to play policing the economic and political bulge. In this address at the CFR, Canada’s Prime Minister waxes idealistically about the challenges of a national resource bounty that rivals any in the world, a mixed ethnic heritage that is the model for progressive integration, and a desire to project Canadian sovereignty and foreign policy into the 21st century…

The Economist has a knack for understanding leading indicators, be they economic, financial or political. This time, Russia falls under the looking glass, and the rise of the siloviki present yet another cause for Western concern. With allied hands tied in the Middle East chasing volatile natural resources and battling a crisis of confidence here at home, Putin & Co. apparently don’t need an invitation to continue consolidating their grip on one of the world’s largest and most important geopolitical economies…

With international markets still reeling from the “sub-prime meltdown” and investors already bracing for the next financial quake, it’s good to know that some of the world’s economic shepherds are well aware of the wolves on the horizon, however unprepared they might be to fight back. Unlike their more political and rhetorical peers, enlightened stewardship from the IMF and its sister organizations may be the global macro-economy’s only hope against the coming valuation storm, as risk quietly shifts from sophisticated financial institutions into the hands of the unsuspecting Everyman…

Sober words from one of this primary’s lesser known Democratic candidates, on the benefits of bipartisan, international negotiation with Iran and the power of assertive compromise. As Atticus Finch might suggest, reconciling “The Axis” and “The Great Satan” may take little more than stepping inside the other guy’s skin and “walk[ing] around for a little”, and as Governor Richardson himself asserts, the taboo of Persian engagement must be overcome before any meaningful progress will ever take place…

Speeches like this remind us of why partisan politics is often no better than the alternative, not because of any words directly spoken or feelings directly invoked, but because of the inevitable litany of criticism that unfolds in the wake of a genuine call for change — particularly in the months leading up to an election. There isn’t much in this April 2007 address that disagrees with the basic principles of peaceful co-existance, mutual socio-economic benefit, and the rebirth of the American Dream. If the long tail ever wakes up to the message, this could become an interesting race…

*To listen to a podcast of this speech, click here

Another great piece of well-deserved fear-mongering from the keyboard of a financial doomsayer, who also happens to be one of my favourite investment commentators. With this effort, as usual, he contextualizes simple and unavoidable shifts in biotechnology and boomer demographics and explores the implications of the resulting squeeze on modern social security and society at large…
The Boomers Break the Deal
by John Mauldin
My grandfather’s generation made a deal with my children’s generation. It goes like this. If you will pay into Social Security and pensions so we can retire now, we agree to die on time, or at least in a predictable manner. The Boomer generation is going to break the deal. We are going to live longer, and maybe a …

Since their earliest days a rogue asset class — a breakaway tax haven from the archaic world of REITs — income trusts have drawn the ire of free-market economists and the capital of free-wheeling investors alike. The former see the structure as an anti-competitive perversion of natural capital flows, while the latter flock to invest in a sea of premium yields. Traditionally, policy makers have been hamstrung by this natural dichotomy, but with their latest Halloween trick, Flaherty and the Tories have taken a bold step toward a fair and open capital market. Baby boomers may cry foul over their lost pot of gold, and socialists may applaud their conservatives counterparts for a rare shot across the bow of a …

“It’s hard for Americans, all of us, including me, to understand what’s wrong with these people. Why do they kill people of other religions because of religion? Why do they hate the Israelis and despise their right to exist? Why do they hate each other? Why do Sunnis kill Shiites? How do they tell the difference? They all look the same to me.”
- Trent Lott, Republican Senator from Mississippi, up for re-election on November 7, 2006

A Nationalist Manifesto
There are too many elephants in the room. During our teens it was understandable, but this country is almost 140 years old. It’s time to stop ignoring the obvious. The 21st century might be filled with promise, but not if we don’t change course.

How can you compare the human body to an athletic shoe? Or worse still, the internal combustion engine? Those libertarians over at the Cato Institute have been sniffing some serious salt. With cardiac surgery approaching $100,000 a pop in the hands of the private sector, I’d be willing to bet that a 25-week wait in publicly-funded Sweden sounds pretty damn good to a Mexican waiter in Queens, or a Persian schoolteacher in East L.A. Which raises the obvious question: who’s health in really under the public’s beneficent care? Is it the endlessly wealthy or the helplessly weak? The answer, it turns out, is neither — unless you’re a surgeon or a pharma rep…