Daily Clips: July 11th, 2016
WHY 2016 COULD BE A TURNING POINT ON GUNS: Here is a piece you must read. Paul Waldman makes a convincing case that we are close to achieving an America with sane gun laws. While he provides many astute arguments, this was my favorite: [Hillary] Clinton also hasn’t hesitated to call out the NRA specifically, and given what a cautious politician she is, that’s also revealing. The newly invigorated gun control movement has taken as one of its core goals to drive a wedge between the NRA and gun owners generally, arguing that the group’s radical policy positions and nightmarish outlook don’t represent most gun owners, who aren’t stockpiling dozens of firearms in their underground bunkers as they look forward longingly to the coming apocalypse. BERNIE SANDERS WILL HIT THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL WITH HILLARY CLINTON: The dream is over, Berners. What a ride it has been! And no, Bernie’s not “selling out.” This is how politics works. GOVERNMENT HOLDS THE PROMISE TO MORE GROWTH: Productivity, according to this author, “is the key to long-term prosperity.” So it is troubling, therefore, when productivity flatlines (much like it has been) because then that “means that the pie isn’t growing.” Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson have a theory that “good government is critical to economic development.” Recently, they have added to their theory with a new idea called “state capacity.” This “incorporates the old idea of good institutions, and adds other factors that Acemoglu and Robinson believe are indispensable – strong education, research spending, infrastructure and lack of discrimination.” With this in mind, they argue that government “isn’t the bane of innovation – it’s a necessary and crucial input.” WORST HEADLINE OF THE DAY: THE WORLD HAS BEEN FALLING APART FOR A LONG TIME. HOW DO WE PUT IT BACK TOGETHER?
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