Hope & History Rhyme

“But wait a minute, doesn’t the Wal-Mart shopper in all of us want the lowest prices possible, with all the middlemen, fat, and friction removed?  And don’t the poorest Americans–those often also without health care–benefit most from that?”

Thomas L. Friedman, The World is Flat

 It is an interesting debate.  In the global economy’s rush to lower costs wherever possible and maximize shareholder value, isn’t  it better for low income workers to have access to the lowest prices for goods?

 Just don’t ask Jdimytai Damour of Queens, New York.  He died Friday; in the line of duty to low, low prices.  From Newsday.com:

A stampede of shoppers in a Valley Stream Wal-Mart on Friday morning left one worker dead and at least three patrons injured after an impatient crowd broke down the store doors and trampled the seasonal employee, Nassau police said.

Jdimytai Damour of Jamaica, Queens, was pushed to the ground by the 2,000-plus crowd just before 5 a.m. as management was preparing to open the store, which is located across from the main Green Acres Mall building. Hundreds stepped over, around and on the 34-year-old worker as they rushed into the store.

“This crowd was out of control,” said Nassau Police Det. Lt. Michael Fleming, whose squad is investigating.

“Nobody was trying to help him,” said shopper Nakea Augustine, who was in the line. “They were rushing in the store, rushing, rushing, rushing.”

Christmas is full of metaphors.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-limart1129,0,5952099.story

The great lesson of the Obama era may be to forget about getting even and focus on getting ahead.  The President-elect’s cool is inspiring more on the left than it is enraging.

Why?  Case in point, four of the Obama Administration’s strongest advocates next year may be Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Joe Lieberman and John McCain.  Each of whom, at one point or another oppossed Obama and said he is unqualified to be President.  The price for this service has been to give each the opportunity to serve.

The wisdom of letting it go and going forward is catching on.  Leslie Savan writes in the Nation…

The other day I noticed that my husband had for the tenth time ruined the slick seasoned surface of my cast-iron skillet by scrubbing it with Brillo. I started to get ticked off, building up a tiny tornado of fury; boy, am I ever going to tell him. Again.

But then I thought, Would Obama let this get to him? That tall cool drink o’ distilled water would never blast Michelle for a domestic faux-pas like this, but here I am going ballistic because my spouse tried to clean a pot? Then poof! (or plouffe!): my anger was gone.

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/state_of_change/386837?rel=hp_picks

Thomas Friedman is shocked, shocked to find there’s gambling going on in his flat world casino, “That’s how we got here — a near total breakdown of responsibility at every link in our financial chain, and now we either bail out the people who brought us here or risk a total systemic crash. These are the wages of our sins. I used to say our kids will pay dearly for this. But actually, it’s our problem. For the next few years we’re all going to be working harder for less money and fewer government services — if we’re lucky. ”

Friedman has never been a Pollyanna about this but you have to wonder what he expected people to do in a world where the Chinese make everything, the Indians service everyone, and Americans are to survive by constantly innovating.

If the global economy is going to be survival of the fittest, we should expect that some individuals’ comparative advantages are going to be that they are better connected and remorseless.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/opinion/26friedman.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

While some banks are “Too big to fail,” others are just the right size to go under.  Unfortunately, plenty of banks are close to doing just that.  The Financial Times reports that the FDIC list of ‘problem banks’ increased by 50% in the third quarter.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6b5c80e2-bb26-11dd-bc6c-0000779fd18c.html

If Hillary Clinton’s first brief at the State Department is to stare down Russian oligarch Vladimir Putin, remember that he asked for it.  Clinton has a history of attracting cartoonishly evil enemies and Putin fits the format well.

Ben Smith of Politco.com expects an early challenge from Russia for the new administration:

Only the outlines of Obama’s approach to Moscow have emerged so far. Running against McCain — a career Russia hawk — he signaled that he would aim for the difficult balancing act of working with Russia on common concerns, from Iran to arms control, without backing off the positions that rankle Russia most, like enlarging the North American Treaty Organization (NATO) to include Ukraine and perhaps Georgia. In the troubled Caucasus, he also showed a greater willingness than did McCain to work with France and other European powers who have had warmer relationships with Russia.

But he’s also surrounded himself with people who consider themselves realists on the dangers posed by Russia’s leadership, and he chose as his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who attacked Putin personally on the campaign trail, saying at one point that then-President Vladimir Putin “doesn’t have a soul.” (He shot back with the suggestion that she lacks a brain.)

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15674.html

The federal government will form a $200 billion program to finance consumer debt; something banks used to do before they went into gaming.  As shopping becomes America’s leading industry, the Bush Administration can no longer wait for Wall Street get its nerve back.

Another $600 will be allocated to back debt from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.  The news caused an almost full percentage point drop in 30 year fixed rate mortgages.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/us/politics/26paulson.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink