Gongol.com Archives: December 2016

December 31, 2016

"[T]hat's not something that you would see on the nightly news"

In a valedictory interview with his old advisor, David Axelrod, President Obama misses an important point. If he doesn't think his administration got the credit it deserved for its work, then perhaps he should cast more blame on the way that same administration treated the news media. There was a lot of avoidance and a lot of outright hostility that not only kept their intended message from getting out (such as it may or may not have been), but also that set the stage for an incoming administration to declare something close to open warfare against the First Amendment.

What Democrats need to learn from Montana

Both major parties are in distressing condition. The path ahead for the Democrats, at least, needs to be less fixation on identity politics and more attention to economic solutions and pragmatism

Serious political risk is coming to the American economy

A poorly-titled Bloomberg story on the coming administration gives a misleading impression: It's not a "business-friendly" environment if the incoming President has already shown a proclivity to manipulate and interfere with the private sector to suit his political motivations.

Big labor is headed in the wrong direction

Labor unions that approach the increasing complexity of the economy with a heels-dug-in approach are going to do their members more harm than good. Adaptation and growth need to come.

The Nordic countries are working on a common brand

They're going to need to bind themselves together more than in the past, and a little bit of branding is a good step.