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Seeking Alpha (Free subscription) | 22/07/2008
Geoff Gannon submits: There are two recent pieces on morality and credit worth reading. One is written by David Brooks ; the other by Jim Grant . Brook's piece is good; Grant’s is better. Brooks takes the matter as far as he can. He sees the importance of the everyday examples that constitute a culture; but fails to see the overwhelming importance of incentives...
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Political Animal (Free subscription) | 22/07/2008
SLEEPER ON BROOKS....If you'd like to read a nice, stemwinding screed against David Brooks, Jim Sleeper has you covered today. Here it is, for your enjoyment. And to prove that it's the real deal, written in a righteous fury, it's...
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Ta-Nehisi Coates (Free subscription) | yesterday
Megan speaks on the debt crisis. I especially like the historical perspective.
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World-O-Crap (Free subscription) | 22/07/2008
The only excuse for David Brooks’ existence is the fuel he supplies to the dyspetic fires roaring in the belly of Doghouse Riley. According to Brooks, the GOP has experienced a Harmonic Convergence of Crap; the signs, portents, and polls all indicate that it’s time to reposition the Brand, and the party elders have summoned [...]
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Calculated Risk (Free subscription) | 22/07/2008
I have never actually gone out of my way to read a David Brooks column; this one was directed to my attention by a reader (thanks, Pat!). It takes on the same Morgenson article I went after on Sunday. In the process of doing so it makes a series of claims that are, I think, way more preposterous than Morgenson's tendency to see borrowers as primarily hapless, passive victims of predatory...
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Bark Bark Woof Woof (Free subscription) | 22/07/2008
Both Richard Cohen and David Brooks offer observations on the great American pastime: spending and owing, and according to both of them, it comes back to being a matter of character. Mr. Brooks first: Decision-making — whether it’s taking out a loan or deciding whom to marry — isn’t a coldly rational, self-conscious act. Instead, decision-making is a long chain of processes, most...
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The Plank (Free subscription) | 18/07/2008
Noam has some smart insights that touch on the subjects raised by David Brooks in his New York Times column today. But unlike Noam, I thought the Brooks column itself was confused. Brooks starts out by arguing that we are entering an era of "epic legislation" in which the government will take an acitivist role on issues like energy, human capital, and financial market regulation....
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The Millions (A Blog About Books) (Free subscription) | 18/07/2008
This morning's David Brooks column has reinvigorated my long-running discomfort with pop-intellectuals. "We're entering an era of epic legislation," his column begins. "There are at least five large problems that will compel the federal government to act in gigantic ways over the next few years." The bold assertion is a classic move of the pop-intellectual, who I think of as one who puts...
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Bark Bark Woof Woof (Free subscription) | 18/07/2008
I tend to ignore David Brooks when he goes off on pedantic generalizations, but today's column is worth noting for a bit of historical blindness. We’re entering an era of epic legislation. There are at least five large problems that will compel the federal government to act in gigantic ways over the next few years. [...] All of this means that the next few years will be an age of government...
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The Liberal Blog Network (Free subscription) | 18/07/2008
David Brooks predicts the return of big government: We're entering an era of epic legislation. There are at least five large problems that will compel the federal government to act in gigantic ways over the next few years. First, there is the erosion of the social contract. Private sector firms are less likely to provide health benefits, producing a desperate need for health care reform....
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Mike the Mad Biologist (Free subscription) | 16/07/2008
...I think he's right (don't tell driftglass ). From the NY Times : Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post...
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Bloodthirsty Liberal (Free subscription) | 59 minutes ago
People are so crazy. Here’s the background: The NY Times ran a long article and video about debt among Americans. The video featured a woman who was losing everything because she had run up so much credit card debt. David Brooks of the NY Times did a column about the article shortly afterwards. And today [...]
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toledolefty (Free subscription) | yesterday
Things have been busy. So I'll give you something to think about: It looks like the mortgage crisis has only gotten worse . The Simple Dollar had a post about whether it's ever OK to walk away from a mortgage . And David Brooks talks about our culture of debt. Is there hope for the U.S. economy? I am starting to think the answer is no. Anyone have a better answer? Of course, we can always...
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Gannon On Investing (Free subscription) | 22/07/2008
There are two recent pieces on morality and credit worth reading. One is written by David Brooks ; the other by Jim Grant . Brook's piece is good; Grant’s is better. Brooks takes the matter as far as he can. He sees the importance of the everyday examples that constitute a culture; but fails to see the overwhelming importance of incentives – incentives that...
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The Scratching Post (Free subscription) | 22/07/2008
David Brooks has a very good thought piece that I don't think I can improve on. Meanwhile, our Precentor of Measurements has a similar post with an anecdote that reinforces David Brooks.
