Clive Crook

The global beating shares just took had many causes, no doubt. Still disgusted by the US debt-ceiling fiasco, I am apt to give that masterclass in malice and incompetence more of the blame than it really deserves: the talk in markets today was more about signs of stalling growth in the US and mounting anxieties over Europe than about US fiscal impotence. Still, it can't help to know at such a time that the US government is clueless and paralysed--or that any… More »

How do the French see faith in the U.S.? A look at Denis Lacorne's new book, "Religion in America: A Political History" More »

Something to read while waiting for Congress to vote on the debt ceiling. More »

Not all moderates are wimpy sell-outs, so stop blaming them for America's problems More »

The nation's future prospects look shakier than ever, thanks to the U.S. government's inability to act intelligently More »

The speaker's plan won't cut as much spending as promised, and the president won't veto it if it reaches his desk More »

Robert Shiller cautions against concentrating too much on particular thresholds for debt ratios. The fundamental problem that much of the world faces today is that investors are overreacting to debt-to-GDP ratios, fearful of some magic threshold, and demanding fiscal-austerity programs too soon. They are asking governments to cut expenditure while their economies are still vulnerable. Households are running scared, so they cut expenditures as well, and businesses… More »

President Obama waited for a debt proposal to arrive, rather than pushing for the same plan when his own fiscal commission proposed it More »

I've obviously been in the US too long. My American wife draws my attention to this list from the BBC of Americanisms that have entered British usage and annoy fastidious Brits. Fastidious Yanks would probably feel the same way about most of them. To my surprise I find only a few of the items really infuriating. It's worrisome. I think I'm more annoyed by the fact that Brits find these terms annoying than I am by the terms themselves. I'll make just three… More »

Did the anti-tax activist misspeak when he chatted to the Washington Post, or is the following weirdness his considered position? More »

Can a bipartisan group of senators drag the rest of Congress into a compromise that will save the U.S. from default? More »

The unemployed will spend all or most of their benefits. And they just happen to be the principal victims of the recession More »

The president gives an unsure, dispiriting performance as the politics of deal-making look bleak More »

There may not be enough time to draft a big spending-reform bill before the U.S. defaults on its debt More »

Hard to know whether to laugh or cry at the Republican party's response to Mitch McConnell's debt-ceiling proposal. One segment of conservative opinion sees it as a shrewd idea, a masterstroke even. Another regards it as a sell-out of historic dimensions. And a third appears to think it is both, and is trying to clarify its position. More »

What did he hope to achieve by going for the grand bargain? More »

Five myths about the federal limit and what happens if we don't raise it More »

Media delighted in the presumption of former IMF chief's guilt More »

It's pathological that politicians can't agree on government spending levels More »

A theme at many sessions at this year's AIF has been happiness--what it is, how you advance it, how you measure it. Fascinating. Justin Wolfers and Robert Frank had an interesting exchange on this earlier in the week, and I'm continuing to turn their arguments over in my mind. Wolfers tore into the "Easterlin Paradox", which is the claim that happiness does not rise with income beyond a certain point. That finding (see Richard Easterlin: Does Economic Growth… More »