Now, it’s true that some of the protesters are oddly dressed or have silly-sounding slogans, which is inevitable given the open character of the events. But so what? I, at least, am a lot more offended by the sight of exquisitely tailored plutocrats, who owe their continued wealth to government guarantees, whining that President Obama has said mean things about them than I am by the sight of ragtag young people denouncing consumerism.

Can we break the machine that is imposing right-wing radicalism on the United States? The scariest part is that the media is part of that machine.

Economics is not a morality play.

The United States in particular and the West in general should be feeling a little embarrassed about all that lecturing we did to the Third World.

[The US] budget is dominated by the retirement programs, Social Security and Medicare - loosely speaking, the post-cold-war federal government is a big pension fund that also happens to have an army.

Unsustainable situations usually go on longer than most economists think possible. But they always end, and when they do, it's often painful.

I admit it: I had fun watching right-wingers go wild as health reform finally became law.