Draine on Society

Recently, several pieces of legislation crafted by Congress have come under fire from politicians for their effect on the national debt. Typically these critics have been dubbed “deficit hawks” due to their conservative, or hawkish, viewpoints on the subject. But this type of behavior is not limited to one side of the political aisle. Indeed, all sound-minded and forward-looking individuals ought to agree that we must ultimately reduce the size of the national debt. Thus, a closer look into the nature of debt and deficits is warranted.

Draine on Society
The global warming debate has become infantile in practice as both sides stick to their approved platitudes and mantras and each side accuses the other of lies, manipulation, and conspiracy.  The truth, as usual, is more complicated than either side makes it out to be, but not so complicated that the average individual cannot get a good understanding of it.

Draine on Society

On Tuesday December 1st, 2009, President Barack Obama made public his intention to send an additional 30,000 American soldiers to the combat theater of Afghanistan.  Though expected, this move was drastic and raised questions about the intentions of his administration regarding the ongoing wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan.  The decision to add 30,000 troops to Afghanistan is reminiscent of the decision of the Bush administration to bolster the troop levels in Iraq by approximately 25,000.

Draine on Society

A “recession” is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. Thus, by the time a contraction is officially labeled a recession, it may seem painfully obvious to informed observers. A “recovery” is defined as positive growth beginning from the trough of a recession and lasting until the next recession. The overall expansion and contraction pattern is known as the business cycle, and in true cyclical nature manifests itself over and over again.

Draine On Society

The national discussion on health care reform has recently taken a dangerous turn. What should have been a meaningful discussion on goals and feasibility has been transformed into a campaign of deliberate misinformation. The goal of this campaign is not to enact any meaningful reform whatsoever, but to foster an atmosphere of fear and misunderstanding that will threaten any attempt to change the status quo.

Draine on Society
Hydrocarbon consumption is the American way of life. Every facet of our society is supported by the generation of energy through combustion of hydrocarbons, otherwise known as fossil fuels. The explosive use of fossil fuels has allowed us to make a giant break from the dire population predictions of Thomas Malthus. Mechanized production caused workers’ productivity to soar and outpace population growth, which would have otherwise eaten up all material gains in standards of living. However, this party may be coming to an end, or we may at …

Draine on Society

Research may be considered one of the critical aspects of human activity that separate us from all other known species. Through the continued study of a facet of the natural or human world, we are able to constantly expand the frontiers of human knowledge.

Draine On Society
Quarterly profits are quarterly profits, right? A company simply reports the revenues and costs associated with a three-month period and the difference must be the net gains or losses accrued by the firm. In theory this is how it works; reality often paints a different picture.

By Alex Draine

There are a lot of financial buzzwords floating around these days. From Washington to New York, numbers and terms are being thrown about without much thought. It has become clear that many people do not fully understand the subtle and not-so-subtle nuances of economic policy.