Council on Foreign Relations

Because the Bush administration has weakened America’s global position, it will leave its successor less freedom to embrace new foreign policy ideas, even some good ones, says Stephen Sestanovich

John McCain likes to say he is for economic growth, offering the Republican narrative that they are for lower taxes, less regulation and freer trade. In this Washington Post op-ed, Sebastian Mallaby says that the real litmus tests on growth lie in policies toward education, basic science, skilled immigration, infrastructure and the grotesque tort system. And on these issues, the real pro-growth candidate looks to be Barack Obama.

In this Wall Street Journal op-ed, Jagdish Bhagwati and Sandip Madan examine how the US health care system could decrease the rising costs for comprehensive medical coverage and replenish a dearth of doctors by encouraging various forms of international trade in medical services

Of all the strange features of this presidential race, the tarnishing of Barack Obama has got to be the most ridiculous. In this Washington Post op-ed, Sebastian Mallaby writes that the Obama-Wright "revelations" are really a revelation about our political culture: About its failure to distinguish the important from the trivial and about the inevitability that the race card will eventually be played against a black candidate.

Hillary Clinton wants a windfall tax to subsidize a summer gas tax holiday for drivers.  In this New York Sun article, Amity Shlaes uses the great Windfall-Profit tax of 1980 to demonstrate why we should oppose such a tax.  While Mrs. Clinton may believe she's found a political windfall, the plans are so poorly crafted they may prove to be what wipes her out.

While Pennsylvania happens to be the physical location of the latest contest between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, in terms of political culture, their duel is situated in Chicago. Amity Shlaes writes that the battle can be viewed as one between two neighborhoods on the Windy City's South Side—the “Daleyesque clout” of Bridgeport and the “liberalism at its best” of Hyde Park.  Yet, the Hyde Parker eventually morphs into a Bridgeporter.

The current economic slowdown has recently been compared to the Great Depression of the 1930s.  In this Bloomberg column, Amity Shlaes argues that this analogy is absurd; stocks have not declined nearly as substantially, unemployment is nowhere near 1930s levels, and only one big bank has collapsed.  The U.S. simply can’t afford to luxuriate in a Depression image; doing so takes away time from devising policies that would really make the economy more competitive.

Economics wasn’t supposed to be the central theme of this year’s campaign, yet the high probability that the U.S. economy will either be in or just emerging from a mild recession on election day has brought economic issues to the forefront of the race.  In this Financial World article, Roger Kubarych looks at the candidates stances on taxes, healthcare, trade, and the housing and associated credit markets.  He argues that, in the end, it’s not “the economy, stupid” but “the economy, naturally.”