Friday, July 24, 2020

Nations deep in the red - Against Open Letter: Ohio House Speaker

“Innovation is seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.”

Dr Albert Szent-Gyorgyi


Believing falsehoods is one problem; not knowing the truth is another. To understand our moment, we must understand the anatomy of knowledge and ignorance wisdom


Treasury forecasts $184.5b deficit in 2020-21

THE PAYBACK: Josh Frydenberg said Australia has experienced a ‘health and economic crisis like nothing we have seen in the last 100 years’.

'We can see the mountain ahead and Australia begins the climb'


The sometimes eccentric views of John Hempton In Bronte Capital


THE Australian Public Service Commissioner should play a greater role in protecting public servants who are being bullied into acting against the rules, a leading academic has argued.

Australian National University Professor Emeritus Richard Mulgan told a parliamentary inquiry examining the "sport rorts" scandal that the saga showed the public service was finding it increasingly hard to stand up to ministers.


'Sinew needs to be stiffened': public servants warned on ...



There were extraordinary scenes in the Senate yesterday when public service boss Phil Gaetjens admitted his probe into the sports rorts affair did not investigate whether Senator Bridget McKenzie had the legal authority to hand out $100 million

Phil Gaetjens' public servant role has always been conflicted


Against open letters. They are badly written. They are open to doubt. They aren't necessary. They look cowardly. They are contagious  Open Letter 



An early morning on the Sugar Hill Reservoir in Goshen, Vt.
Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick and Molly Olmstead with “The Class of RBG” — which profiles nine other women in the Harvard Law class of 1959.

She had her “dream job” as a sideline reporter and vice president for the D.C. United soccer team. Then, before a match, she was hit in the head with an aluminum railing. Or was she? The Washington Post’s Rick Maese with the story of an accident that changed everything.

There have been several stories about the economic woes of NPR. Here’s another excellent one from The Washington Post’s Paul Farhi.


What’s it like to be a media member in the bubble covering the National Basketball Association? Variety’s Tom Kludt with a superb piece.

Is the Fox TV affiliate in Philadelphia turning into a local version of Fox News? Writing for Philadelphia Magazine, Ernest Owens looks at allegations from former and current employees who allege the station is run by “toxic, super-white, and Trump-apologizing management.”





Trump shifts rhetoric as he urges mask-wearing, warns of worsening pandemicReuters

As Trump Threatens Secret Police Deployment Nationwide, Democrats Debate Expanding Surveillance Powers and New Money for DHS The Intercept. Biden will need that


Different Names, Same Address: How Big Businesses Got Government Loans Meant for Small Businesses Pro Publica


Big scoop from The Wall Street Journal’s Ben Mullin: The New York Times has reached a deal to acquire Serial Productions, maker of the popular podcast Serial. This shows the Times’ continuing forward-thinking. As Mullin tweeted, “Podcasts are a relatively small but fast-growing portion of the NYT’s revenue base, and it has a lot of cash on its balance sheet. So, a deal like this makes sense. They can plug the NYT’s formidable resources into one of the most popular podcasts ever.”


A toxic culture at Hearst?

The New York Times’ Katie Robertson and Ben Smith report that employees of Hearst Magazines say the media company’s president, Troy Young, has made sexually offensive remarks in the past that led to a toxic culture. Hearst outlets include Good Housekeeping, Redbook, Harper’s Bazaar, Town & Country and Cosmopolitan.

Robertson and Smith write that Young “has drawn complaints from people who said he had made lewd, sexist remarks at work. And in recent weeks, inspired by the civil rights movement, current and former employees at Cosmopolitan and another Hearst women’s title, Marie Claire, have spoken out on social media and during staff meetings on what they describe as a toxic environment.”

The story, quoting current and former employees, goes into detail about several incidents when Young said inappropriate things. Young has been with Hearst since 2013. 

In a statement to the Times, Young said, “Specific allegations raised by my detractors are either untrue, greatly exaggerated or taken out of context. The pace of evolving our business and the strength of my commitment is ambitious, and I sincerely regret the toll it has taken on some in our organization.”


Note the excellent story by Vanity Fair’s Tom Kludt about what it’s like to be a media member in the NBA bubble.


Hot type



Via Tax Justice:

"I hope you're all keeping safe and well. There's a transcript for this episode, available below. I'm taking a break in August but I'll be back with you in September.

In this episode of the Tax Justice Network’s monthly podcast, the Taxcast we bring you part 2 on how tax justice can help address systemic racism in the US:

Plus: how much wealth is stashed offshore?!! We speak to Tax Justice Network Senior Advisor and economist Jim Henry and John Christensen on why our estimate of $21 to 32 trillion has been vindicated by new figures released by the OECD: "it means we've discovered an eighth continent of wealth"

Transcript available here (not 100% accurate) Produced and hosted by me, Naomi Fowler. 

"As we continue to ignore the racist history of the tax code, ignore the fact that policy is not race neutral and that the tax system is not immune to racism then we will continue to see the impact of black and Brown communities and communities of colour worsen in the most negative way.”

~ Cortney Sanders of the Center of Budget and Policy Priorities

"How is it that after 400 years over 40 million African Americans only own about 2% of US wealth? Normally when we talk about discrimination we talk about it from the perspective of the injustice or the immorality associated with it. I wanted to look at things a little differently. I wanted to look at what is the financial cost associated with it and more importantly what does research say that those costs are?”

~ Author Shawn Rochester, (The Black Tax: the cost of being Black in America)

"For a very long time here, we’ve had a sort of a rising tide lifts all boats point of view in this country and saying, okay, well, you know communities of colour will benefit if we just invest in broad based policies. And I think this is a moment where people are saying, okay, we know that’s not true, right? It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t invest in these broad-based policies. And it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t push for things that benefit everyone, but communities of colour have been specifically and explicitly pushed behind and disenfranchised. And to address those harms are going to have to have explicit policies that benefit them.”

~ Brandon J. McKoy of New Jersey Policy Perspective

"It means we’ve discovered an eighth continent of wealth. It’s important, especially for developing countries because [it] shows that they’re basically a net creditor of the rich world, ‘cos most of this money is not invested in Cayman islands or Panama, it’s basically invested in London and New York and Zurich.”

~ Tax Justice Network Senior Advisor and economist Jim Henry on why our estimate of $21 to 32 trillion offshore wealth has been vindicated by new figures released by the OECD

The original website post of the podcast is here.
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