How Dismal is the Fiscal Future For America and Europe? Becker – The Becker-Posner Blog

www.becker-posner-blog.com

Here’s Nobel Laureate Gary Becker’s views on the possibility of a (developed economies) debt crisis: “Posner lays out clearly many of the present and future solvency and default risks to the United States federal government. He bases some of the analysis on a valuable recent Morgan Stanley report with the provocative title “Ask Not Whether Governments Will Default, but How”.”

O’Grady: Kirchner’s Assault on the Press – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In the Wall Street Journal, Americas columnist Mary Anastasia O’Grady writes about the Argentine president’s campaign to silence the country’s two most influential daily newspapers.”

Mark Helprin: The World Trade Center Mosque and the Constitution – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In the Wall Street Journal, Mark Helprin of the Claremont Institute writes that proponents have a right to build the mosque, but no American can be forced to pour concrete or cross a picket line of grieving families.”

Robert Barro: The Folly of Subsidizing Unemployment – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In the Wall Street Journal, the economist Robert Barro of Harvard writes that his calculations suggest the jobless rate could be as low as 6.8%, instead of 9.5%, if the Obama administration hadn’t extended jobless benefits to 99 weeks.”

Paul Rubin: Ten Fallacies About Web Privacy – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In the Wall Street Journal, Paul Rubin of Emory University writes that we are not used to the Internet reality that something can be known and at the same time no person knows it.”

Life-Insurance Coverage Wanes for U.S. Households – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Nearly a third have no policies, a combination of the financial pressures on middle-income families and a reticence to purchase insurance due to the high cost of some policies and the hardball tactics used by some agents.”

ABREAST OF THE MARKET: The Decline of the P/E Ratio – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“As investors fixate on the global forces whipsawing the markets, one fundamental measure of stock-market value, the price-to-earnings ratio, is quietly shrinking, both in size and importance.”

U.S. Is Bankrupt and We Don’t Even Know It: Laurence Kotlikoff

www.bloomberg.com

Great read – hat tip to (my former student) Jason Gould: “Let’s get real. The U.S. is bankrupt. Neither spending more nor taxing less will help the country pay its bills.”

Timothy J. Muris: Antitrust in a High-Tech World – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Former Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, Timothy J. Muris, writes in The Wall Street Journal Europe that innovation suffers when regulators penalize businesses for their success in the marketplace.”

Allan H. Meltzer: Europe Jumps Off the Keynesian Bus – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, economist Allan Meltzer notes that the economy is looking bright in Britain and Germany after those governments announced plans to reduce spending.”

Dan Henninger: Tolerance at Ground Zero – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Wonder Land columnist Dan Henninger writes that to reciprocate for the space his mosque is getting close to Ground Zero, Iman Rauf should defend Christian minorities in the Middle East.”

Unemployed Homeowners to Get $3 Billion in Aid – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Obama administration plans to add $2 billion to its Hardest Hit Fund and said HUD would launch a new $1 billion program to provide bridge loans to homeowners at risk for foreclosure. ”

Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.: End of the Net Neut Fetish – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Business World columnist Holman Jenkins explains what the Google-Verizon deal really means for the wireless future…?  Historians, if any are interested, will conclude that the unraveling of the net neutrality movement began when the iPhone appeared, instigating a tsunami of demand for mobile Web access.”

U.S. Study Indicates Driver Error in Many Toyota Crashes – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

I can’t help but wonder what the implications of this study are for the civil litigation which is currently going on concerning “sudden acceleration incidents”, or SAI’s involving Toyota vehicles: “A government safety examination of Toyota vehicles involved in crashes attributed to sudden acceleration so far has not yielded evidence of flaws in Toyotas while pointing instead to driver error.”

Green Protectionism — The American, A Magazine of Ideas

www.american.com

“European policy makers and environmental groups want to restrict imports—but not in order to save the planet.”

Fouad Ajami: The Obsolescence of Barack Obama – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In the Wall Street Journal, Fouad Ajami writes that Barack Obama’s will not be known as a transformative presidency.”

Ezra Klein – Where does the Laffer curve bend?

voices.washingtonpost.com

Interesting assortment of opinions about the relationship between marginal tax rates, government revenue, and GDP growth from leading economists and various other “experts”…

The New-Car Mating Dance – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com

freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com

Interesting “case study” by Freakonomics author Steven Levitt concerning the impact of the Internet on the market for new cars: “Our minivan is ten years old, so we went out to buy a new one this weekend. In Freakonomics and SuperFreakonomics, we write a lot about how the Internet has changed markets in which there are information asymmetries. Buying a new car gave me the chance to see first-hand these forces at work…”

Scientists Discover Keys to Long Life – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“By analyzing the DNA of the world’s oldest people, Boston University scientists said Thursday they have discovered a genetic signature of longevity. They expect soon to offer a test that could let people learn whether they have the constitution to live to a very old age.”

Charles Krauthammer – Terror — and candor in describing the Islamist ideology behind it

www.washingtonpost.com

“The administration’s refusal to identify terrorists reflects a dangerous cowardice.”

Brad Greenberg: How Missionaries Lost Their Chariots of Fire and Why They Should Add the Gospel Back

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal’s Houses of Worship column, Brad Greenberg says that over the past century, Protestant mission workers have moved from spreading the Gospel to do doing good works, and says that they should be doing both.”

Paul H. Rubin: Why Is the Gulf Cleanup So Slow? – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In the Wall Street Journal, Paul Rubin writes that there are obvious actions to speed up the Gulf oil spill, but the government oddly resists taking them.”

Kim Strassel: The Obama Trade Games – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In the Wall Street Journal, Potomac Watch columnist Kimberley Strassel writes that free trade is making a convenient comeback in the Obama administration.”

E.J. McMahon: The Empire State’s Stimulus Addiction – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, E.J. McMahon writes that New York will never get its budget under control as long as Washington feeds its spending habit.”

Daily Kos Founder Says Polling Data Was Faked – The Numbers Guy – WSJ

blogs.wsj.com

“In an unusually public rift, a prominent left-wing political Web site is renouncing polling it had commissioned and published and is suing its former pollster.”

Short-term insurance buyers in Massachusetts

theincidentaleconomist.com

“Further evidence on how consumers in the real world “game” insurance mandates – this is a cautionary tale for Obamacare, given that ObamaCare is in essence a nationwide implementation of RomneyCare…”

Keynes vs. Alesina. Alesina Who? – BusinessWeek

www.businessweek.com

“Economist Alberto Alesina argues that austerity triggers growth.”

The Problem With Food Aid – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com

nytimes.com

“Planet Money and Frontline report on the distorting effects of foreign food aid on local food economies, particularly in Haiti. People don’t buy rice when they can get it for free.”

It Depends on What the Definition of ‘Austerity’ Is

www.american.com

“Paul Krugman says we are in a ‘new era of austerity.’ When will government spending be enough? … In the last ten years, the private sector has, on average, grown 1.2 percent annually, while the government has, on average, grown 3.5 percent annually.”

John B. Taylor: The Dodd-Frank Financial Fiasco – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Stanford University economist John B. Taylor says the Congressional financial reform bill all but guarantees bailouts as far as the eye can see, while failing to address real problems like Fan and Fred and our outdated bankruptcy code.”

No Way to Help Small Business

www.american.com

“The need of many small businesses to raise money has led to several proposals to give small businesses more access to credit. Will they work?”

Menace to Mobility

www.american.com

“Comparing the administration’s new transportation plan to a Soviet ‘five-year plan’ would be unfair to the Soviets.”

Notable & Quotable – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Verizon CEO and Business Roundtable Chairman Ivan Seidenberg on government and the economy.”

The Keynesian Dead End – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal argues that spending our way to prosperity is going out of style.”

Weekend Interview with Jim Flaherty – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Mary Anastasia O’Grady interview Jim Flaherty, Canada’s finance minister and writes in The Wall Street Journal that Canada will lead the charge against new bank taxes and for spending restraint at the G-20 in Toronto.”

Seth Lipsky: Conrad Black and the Criminalization of Business – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Seth Lipsky notes that according to the Supreme Court, the media mogul Conrad Black was convicted on overly vague concepts of corporate fraud concerning the honest services statute.”

A Day of Prayer for the Gulf States

www.torenewamerica.com

“The governors of Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, and Mississippi and the lieutenant governor of Florida, have proclaimed this Sunday, June 27 as a Day of Prayer for relief from all the problems related to the oil spill, especially for the people, animal life and economies of the affected states.”

Ensuring That Our Economies Remain Terror-Proof

www.huffingtonpost.com

“The heads of terrorism insurance programs decided to establish — under the aegis of the OECD High Level Advisory Board — a permanent international platform on the financial coverage of terrorism risk.”

Peggy Noonan: McChrystal Forces Us to Focus – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Now General David Petraeus owes us a candid assessment of the Afghan effort, writes Peggy Noonan in The Wall Street Journal.”

Mark Moyar: Petraeus’s Opportunity – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, this selection reassures our Afghan allies that the U.S. will not begin substantial troop reductions until the Afghans can handle the insurgents on their own.”

Pete du Pont: Generation Gap – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Kerry-Lieberman energy bill would enervate America, Pete du Pont argues in The Wall Street Journal.”

Jon Shields: Manute Bol’s Radical Christianity – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal’s Houses of Worship column, Jon Shields notes that sportswriters love to use the word redemption to describe athletic performances, former NBA player Manute Bol, shoed the true meaning of the word, and literally died for Christianity.”

Terry Anderson: Why It’s Safer to Drill in the ‘Backyard’ – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, PERC executive director Terry Anderson notes that spills on land are much less dangerous and easier to contain than underwater.”

Kim Strassel: Business’s Buyer’s Remorse – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Potomac Watch columnist Kim Strassel reports that the Business Roundtable has finally figured out that the Obama administration has been playing them for a patsy.”

General McChrystal and the Culture of Exposure – NYTimes.com

nytimes.com

“The firing of Gen. Stanley McChrystal shows our troubling emphasis on private over public performance in public officials.”

Marginal Revolution: Not from the Onion: EPA Classifies Milk as Oil

www.marginalrevolution.com

“New Environmental Protection Agency regulations treat spilled milk like oil, requiring farmers to build extra storage tanks and form emergency spill plans.”

Charles Krauthammer – Afghanistan: The 7/11 problem

www.washingtonpost.com

Charles Krauthammer argues, and I agree, that “President Obama was fully justified in dismissing Gen. Stanley McChrystal. The firing offense did not rise to the level of insubordination — this was no MacArthur undermining the commander in chief’s war strategy — but it was a serious enough show of disrespect for the president and for the entire civilian leadership to justify relief from his post.”

Should We Raise Taxes on the Middle Class? We Already Are

www.american.com

“Taxes are already rising to record levels, with or without legislative changes.”

Disaster unfolds slowly in the Gulf of Mexico – The Big Picture – Boston.com

www.boston.com

“In the three weeks since the April 20th explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, and the start of the subsequent massive (and ongoing) oil leak, many attempts have been made to contain and control the scale of the environmental disaster.”

PolitiFact | Will says Greece’s economy is same size as Dallas-Fort Worth’s

www.politifact.com

“During the May 9, 2010 edition of ABC’s This Week, commentator George Will sought to add some context to one of the previous week’s biggest stories — the financial troubles in Greece, which prompted a bailout by its European neighbors that drew protests in Athens and shook financial markets across …”

In-the-Red State — The American, A Magazine of Ideas

www.american.com

“When we properly account for Social Security, our national deficit proves worse.”

Mahalanobis

mahalanobis.twoday.net

“Michael Fleming and Nicholas Klagge provide an overview of the U.S. dollar swap line program—a system of reciprocal currency arrangements with foreign central banks—introduced by the Federal Reserve in late 2007 to address global disruptions in dollar funding markets.”

Was There Good Reason for a Housing Boom? – Economix Blog – NYTimes.com

economix.blogs.nytimes.com

“At least part of the housing construction boom of the 2000s served a legitimate economic purpose, an economist writes.”

Larry Harris: How to Prevent Another Trading Panic – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, former SEC economist Larry Harris says that the SEC should require price limits for all buy and sell orders in electronic trading.”

Holman Jenkins: Welfare Wagons – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Business World columnist Holman Jenkins writes that the new electric cars from Chevy and Nissan are powered by taxpayer credits.”

Martin Feldstein: Extend the Bush Tax Cuts—For Now – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Martin Feldstein writes in The Wall Street Journal that deficits are a real problem but the recovery is still too fragile to choke off growth with higher rates.”

Fannie mae and Chris Dodd – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal writes that Democrats leave Chris Dodd alone to defend Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.”

Michael B. Mukasey: Shahzad and the Pre-9/11 Paradigm – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey writes in The Wall Street Journal that in the 1990s we mocked the ineptness of jihadists and were confident civilian courts could handle them. Look where that got us.”

The Judge in the Gray Flannel Suit – Politics – The Atlantic

www.theatlantic.com

“What’s disturbing is that this is what our nomination process now selects for: someone who appears to be in favor of nothing except self-advancement. Then we complain when the most passionate advocates for ideas are the lunatic fringe.”

Why Are Cancer Costs Rising? – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com

freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com

“People are living longer, but getting cancer.”

Nathan Myhrvold: Could this laser zap malaria? | Video on TED.com

www.ted.com

“Nathan Myhrvold and team’s latest inventions — as brilliant as they are bold — remind us that the world needs wild creativity to tackle big problems like malaria. And just as that idea sinks in, he rolls out a live demo of a new, mosquito-zapping gizmo you have to see to believe.”

David McCourt: FCC Regulation of the Internet May Chill Investment in Broadband – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, David McCourt says the FCC’s determination to impose net neutrality regulations on ISP companies will make investments in broadband more uncertain.”

Fouad Ajami: Islam’s Nowhere Men – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Fouad Ajami notes that millions of young Muslim men like Faisal Shahzad are unsettled by a modern world they can neither master nor reject.”

ObamaCare’s Phony Medicaid ‘Deal’ – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, constitutional law professor Richard Epstein says that the new health law unconstitutionally coerces the states.”

Is It Too Big to Save? — The American, A Magazine of Ideas

www.american.com

“If you’re only going to read one book on the financial crisis, this should be the one. ”

Shahzad’s Lesson: Foreclosed Is Forearmed – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, satirist Joe Queenan writes that history is littered with tales of men who turned to violence because of bad real-estate investments.”

Julius Caesar of the Internet – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal writes that the Obama Administration’s attempt to regulate the Internet is unlawful and unnecessary.”

Global markets: So, about that crash | The Economist

www.economist.com

“ON THURSDAY afternoon, between 2:30 and 3:00, the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered one of the largest and most dramatic swings in its long history. In the space of just a few minutes, the Dow went from being down around 300 points to being down nearly 1,000 points.”

Jeffrey Miron » Blog Archive » Regulating the Internet

jeffreymiron.com

“In a move that will stoke a battle over the future of the Internet, the federal government plans to propose regulating broadband lines under decades-old rules designed for traditional phone networks.”

Kim Strassel: Financial Reform Goldman Can Love – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Potomac Watch columnist Kimberley Strassel notes that the Democrats’ anti-Wall Street rhetoric conceals a major fund-raising campaign. The actual financial reforms will not seriously damage the major players.”

What the Hell Just Happened in the Market? – Business – The Atlantic

www.theatlantic.com

“For those who don’t have Bloomberg News on 24/7, the Dow just dropped almost 1,000 points…”

Michael Boskin: Time to Junk the Corporate Tax – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, MIchael Boskin writes that the U.S.has the second-highest corporate income tax rate of any advanced economy, and that reforming it would boost the economy and future business investment.”

Dan Henninger: Blame Obama. Why Not? – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Dan Henninger writes that as the oil-spill cleanup shows, some things are beyond even Barack Obama’s belief in the powers of government.”

Another Fine Mess – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“John Fund writes in The Wall Street Journal that the Obama administration was caught unprepared for the oil spill.”

Why Our Current Budget Situation Is a Crisis — The American, A Magazine of Ideas

www.american.com

“There is no precedent for reducing the ratio of debt to GDP by simply growing our way out of it.”

Robert G. Wilmers: What About Reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Robert G. Wilmers, the chairman and CEO of M&T Bank Corporation, says that Fannie and Freddie need to be reformed, lest we have another financial crisis down the road.”

Drilling in Deep Water – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal writes that a ban on offshore production won’t mean fewer oil spills.”

Fred Barnes: Democrats at Ramming Speed – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Fred Barnes writes that the White House wants to pass as much legislation as possible before losing its big majorities, no matter how unpopular its proposals are.”

Brian M. Carney: A Tale of Three Cities – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“Editorial Page Editor Brian M. Carney writes in The Wall Street Journal that Athens, London and Washington each respond to looming insolvency in telling ways.”

Esther Duflo: Social experiments to fight poverty | Video on TED.com

www.ted.com

“Alleviating poverty is more guesswork than science, and lack of data on aid’s impact raises questions about how to provide it. But Clark Medal-winner Esther Duflo says it’s possible to know which development efforts help and which hurt — by testing solutions with randomized trials.”

Have You Accidentally Sold Your Soul Lately? – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com

freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com

“An online retailer adds an interesting clause to its contracts.”

 Q&A: Semi-Variance: A Better Risk Measure? – Fama/French Forum

www.dimensional.com

“Is semi-variance a more useful measure of downside risk than standard deviation?”

Don’t Fear the Invisible Tax – Economix Blog – NYTimes.com

economix.blogs.nytimes.com

“Despite the criticism of the value-added taxes Government spending is no lower in countries with more visible taxes.”

Holman Jenkins: The War on Shorts – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“In The Wall Street Journal, Business World columnist Holman Jenkins says the SEC’s lawsuit against Goldman Sachs is part of a long campaign by the federal agency against short sellers. It is also a convenient way of deflecting attention from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s role in the housing bubble.”

The Violence Card – WSJ.com

online.wsj.com

“The Wall Street Journal writes that Bill Clinton plays politics with Oklahoma bomber Tim McVeigh.”

Op-Ed Columnist – Riders on the Storm – NYTimes.com

www.nytimes.com

“The growing belief that the Internet has led to an increasingly fragmented and polarized media market may be contradicted by new research.”

The English Patient

www.thebigquestions.com

“A 64 year old breast cancer survivor suffering severe back pain is told she’ll have to wait five months for an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon through the National Health Service (NHS). She therefore (and perfectly legally) chooses to pay 250 pounds (about 385 dollars) for a private appointment. He puts her on …a waiting list for surgery to remove a cyst from her spine, surgery which is routinely covered by the NHS. But the NHS decides that since she can afford 250 pounds for a private appointment, she can also afford 10,000 pounds (over 15,000 dollars) for private surgery. They therefore deny to provide her the surgery for which she’s been paying taxes her whole life.”

Campaign For Liberty — A Strong Majority Wants to Repeal ObamaCare

www.campaignforliberty.com

“Support for repeal of the recently-passed national health care plan is proving to be just as consistent as opposition to the plan before it was passed. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 56% of likely voters nationwide favor repeal, while 41% are opposed. Those figures include 48% who Strongly Favor repeal and 29% who Strongly Oppose it. Over the past four weeks, support for repeal has remained in a very narrow range from a low of 54% to a high of 58%. Forty percent (40%) now believe repeal is at least somewhat likely, up two points from a week ago. Forty-nine percent (49%) say it’s not likely. This includes just 15% who see repeal as Very Likely and 12% who say it’s Not at All Likely.”

The Economy

• Why the Recovery Will Be Robust, by David Ranson

“It’s the normal V-shaped bounce after a deep recession.”

Economics and Public Policy

• The Crack-up, by Vincent Reinhart

“The administration might be settling for superficial progress on financial reform to avoid being on the wrong side of public anger; a better approach would channel the anger into making meaningful reform.“

• The Runaway Subsidy Train, by Wendell Cox

“In some corridors, ‘high-speed’ rail won’t be much faster than trains in the 1930s.”

Politics

• The Obama Contradiction, by Peggy Noonan

“Washington is sick and broken—and it can solve all our problems.”

• The Obama Spell Is Broken, by Fouad Ajami

“Unlike this president, John Kennedy was an ironist who never fell for his own mystique.”

Terrorism

• The handling of the Christmas Day bombing suspect: the scandal grows, by Charles Krauthammer

“The real scandal surrounding the failed Christmas Day airline bombing was not the fact that a terrorist got on a plane — that can happen to any administration, as it surely did to the Bush administration — but what happened afterward when Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was captured and came under the full control of the U.S. government.”

Foreign Policy

• Obama Contra Niebuhr, by Joseph Loconte

“Supporters of President Obama’s ‘moral realism’ are unaware of many elements of Reinhold Niebuhr’s political theology.“

Health Care Reform

• The Health Lady Has Yet to Sing, by Kim Strassel

“ObamaCare is still no sure thing.”

• The High Cost of No Price, by Veronique de Rugy

“Economists have shown that if a good’s price is zero or decreasing, then the demand for this good will likely increase. In 2008, consumers were only directly responsible for 11.9 percent of total national healthcare expenditures, down from 43 percent in 1965, according to new data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This means that someone other than consumers pays roughly 88 percent of all healthcare costs, giving consumers little incentive to mind costs and much incentive to over-consume.”

Politics

• Slug the Obama Story ‘Disconnect’, by Peggy Noonan

“He and the public are on different pages, if not in different books.”

• One year out: President Obama’s fall, by Charlkes Krauthammer

“What went wrong? A year ago, he was king of the world. Now President Obama’s approval rating, according to CBS, has dropped to 46 percent — and his disapproval rating is the highest ever recorded by Gallup at the beginning of an (elected) president’s second year.”

Public Policy

• The Green Con Job, by Dustin Chambers and Dan Ervin

“The U.S. economy is sensitive to high energy prices. An aggressive push toward green power would result in the net loss of millions of jobs. There is a better way forward.“

Terrorism

• Don’t panic. Fear is al-Qaeda’s real goal, by Fareed Zakaria

“In responding to the attempted bombing of an airliner on Christmas Day, Sen. Dianne Feinstein voiced the feelings of many when she said that to prevent such situations, “I’d rather overreact than underreact.” This appears to be the consensus view in Washington, but it is quite wrong. The purpose of terrorism is to provoke an overreaction.”