SQUEEZED IN THE MIDDLE BY GLOB ALIZATION: THE BUSH WARS, TAKE II

This quote used by E.J. Dionne of WAPO here, might explain as much as does the Iraq question (and indeed the two might be VERY related): "much of the gain from excellent macroeconomic performance has gone to just a small segment of the population -- those already in the upper part of the distribution." From a remarkable speech that Janet Yellen, the president and chief executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, gave the day before voters went to the polls. A related and entertaining read from "The Major" in USAVOICE.ORG is here.

Yellen draws on the essential policy book of the year, Jacob S. Hacker's "The Great Risk Shift." Again, if Democrats get tired of recrimination over an election they won -- imagine if they had lost! -- they might spend time with Hacker, who shows how more and more risk is being offloaded from government and private corporations onto individuals. He makes a powerful case for remodeling our social insurance systems to provide genuine economic security for all working Americans.

LONG LIVE MILTON FRIEDMAN as this clip from Doug Berman at SL&P demonstrates!