Clive Crook

I’m in Aspen for the Ideas Festival. I’ll write a daily note, updated now and then, on things that strike me as interesting. One thing that already keeps coming up—in this environment rich in high-tech executives and entrepreneurs—is the unfathomable bone-headedness of a US immigration policy that discriminates against the skilled. Intel’s Craig Barrett railed against this at a session last night and University of Maryland’s Dan Mote picked the theme… More »

Mike Kinsley and Conor Clarke have outsourced production of a book on "creative capitalism"--the subject of a much-noted speech by Bill Gates earlier this year--to the internet. Gates, if you recall, jumped on the corporate social responsibility bandwagon and argued that ordinary capitalism will no longer do. We need a new kind. The new website invites posts and comments on the subject, and the discussion appears to be thriving. I recently posted a note with my own… More »

I opine further on the Supreme Court and its recent decisions in my column today for the Financial Times. When the US Supreme Court makes important rulings, discussion ensues on the intent of the constitution’s draughtsmen and how far their purposes should guide the court more than 200 years later. The designers of this miraculously durable constitution would have wished there to be such debate. But I do not think they would be impressed by much else they see.… More »

It was unsurprising, and in practical terms maybe not very important, that the Supreme Court struck down the District of Columbia's blanket ban on handguns. In yet another 5-4 decision (the four conservatives plus Justice Kennedy against the four liberals), it ruled that the Second Amendment enshrines the right of individuals--as opposed to individuals serving as part of a militia--to keep and bear arms. It also affirmed that this right is qualified, and that all… More »

An excellent column by George Will, on a subject close to my heart: Two-thirds of doctoral candidates in science and engineering in U.S. universities are foreign-born. But only 140,000 employment-based green cards are available annually, and 1 million educated professionals are waiting -- often five or more years -- for cards. Congress could quickly add a zero to the number available, thereby boosting the U.S. economy and complicating matters for America's… More »

While browsing Greg's blog (see previous post) I also noted his item on "starve the beast"--the idea, popular with conservatives, that cutting taxes forces public spending lower. He says that a recent column by Paul Krugman implicitly endorses the theory, much as Paul may deplore its application, since it argues that the Bush tax cuts will tie the hands of the next administration. (Yes! That is what they were supposed to do, the White House would say.) Perhaps I… More »

Greg Mankiw links to this recent column by Larry Lindsey on what Obama's tax proposals would imply for taxes on the highest earners.Larry points out: "A high-income entrepreneur would see his or her federal marginal tax rate rise to 53% from 37.7% under Sen. Obama's tax plan."I believe this would be the highest tax rate on earned income since 1971. As I mentioned in this recent piece, that is putting it mildly--since many states also levy an income tax of their own… More »

With apologies for the delay in posting it (I forgot), here is a link to my Monday column in the Financial Times--this week, it's on energy policy. In a nutshell, I criticize the approaches taken by both presidential candidates. I accuse them of pandering about equally to their target constituencies, and focusing on irrelevancies. I argue that the key thing is to reconcile the country to more expensive energy. The US does not know whether to tax energy or… More »

I thought Obama's new general-election ad was interesting. To make it more conservative, he would have had to attack gay marriage and call for nuclear waste to be stored in Yosemite. He stands for "values straight from the Kansas heartland where I grew up..." My theory is that he might be courting independents. And this trailer from Fortune for a soon-to-be-published interview with Obama ("Nafta not so bad after all") would seem to support that theory. The… More »

I thought most of this week's reporting and analysis on why the new bill to curb greenhouse gas emissions failed in the Senate was a bit thin. It's true that nobody expected it to become law (it was heading for a veto in any any case), but it mustered surprisingly little enthusiasm even so--raising doubts about its prospects next year, despite the fact that a well-disposed president will be in the White House. This is another plug for National Journal, if you'll… More »

In this new column for National Journal, I reflect on Ireland's rejection of the EU's new constitutional treaty. The European Union's latest pratfall--occasioned by Ireland's rejection last week of a new constitutional treaty--is worth noting for several reasons. To begin with, the outcome has practical implications for the United States. The next president will wish to refresh the alliance with Europe. Ireland's vote, however, throws the E.U. into disarray--or… More »

A new column for the Financial Times: Barack Obama and John McCain both expect the ailing US economy to work to their advantage in November. Mr Obama promises to make things better. Mr McCain says they will get better by themselves and he will not make them worse in the meantime. These are the customary postures of the two parties. For a fight between an insurgent Democrat and a maverick Republican, the economics in this election is sadly orthodox. Mr Obama… More »

Robert Samuelson's new column on the candidates is very good, as usual. For the party faithful, this is a sweet moment. They have their candidates and, whatever the obstacles, can still imagine victory in November. But the rest of us ought to remember that the politics of winning and governing often collide. The first involves maximizing popularity. The second requires farsighted choices that ultimately benefit the country but may initially hurt a president's… More »

An interesting exchange between Tyler Cowen and Dani Rodrik on attitudes to free trade. Tyler puts protectionist sentiment partly down to atavistic nativism: Despite all these gains [from free trade], the prevailing intellectual tendency these days is to apologize for free trade. A common claim is that trade liberalization should proceed only if it is accompanied by new policies to retrain displaced workers or otherwise ameliorate the consequences of economic… More »

Last week Hillary Clinton said that next time, thanks to her campaign, the idea of a woman running for president will seem unremarkable, and of course she was right. Thanks to Obama's campaign, the idea that America's next president will be a black man already seems a lot less remarkable than it did even very recently. My new column for the FT starts with this observation: When Barack Obama, having secured the presidential nomination, ended his victory speech last… More »

In a new column for National Journal, I compare Obama's and McCain's proposals on taxes. Neither candidate makes much sense on the subject, I argue. With their fixation on the fate of the Bush tax cuts, both of them are missing the main point: comprehensive reform is needed--and needed so badly it may be unavoidable. The key is to broaden the income-tax base. Income-tax rates are moderate in the United States by international standards, but the income-tax base is… More »

I have to say that my sympathies are somewhat divided in the matter of Obama v Clinton. I’ve argued from the beginning that Obama is the better candidate and would make much the better president, though not without wavering now and then on both points. Obama’s campaign has been far from flawless. Hillary has impressed me—and who could not be impressed?—with her relentless drive. And some of her complaints about her treatment in the media have been quite… More »

The remarkable ability of the Federal Reserve to coast above the turbulence of US politics has been tested lately. The central bank has been forced to deal with a financial crisis at least partly of its own making. It has rightly come in for some criticism; it has had to explain itself. Even so, the Fed and its policies are hardly front and centre in the debate between the presidential candidates. Most voters say that they regard the economy and its troubles as… More »