Big Mouth; Little Balls

Posted on Substack 5/17/2025   Can China’s surveillance state brand rule the world ?   It has been was apparent for some time that China’s moment is now. And this moment is staring us in the face in a manner that most emphatically has all of our attention. Partly due to Trump’s tariffs; largely due to the full realization of China’s manufacturing and technical prowess. Recent podcasts and columns by Ezra Klein, Thomas Freidman, Niall Ferguson, and the just released, Apple In China, by Patrick McGee, are solid recent resources to examine the landscape.  The McGee book about the tricky position Apple is in, had me circle back to another book I often find myself referring to: Why Nations Fail, by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson. At the time of publishing Acemoglu was bearish on China, in large part because he sees the country as an extractive state. Today, the term “surveillance state,” would most likely be the term of choice that first comes off the tongue. And th...

Berlin 1936, Mexico City 1968, Argentina 1978, USA 2026?   Posted on Substack 4/22/25 I was still living in Los Angeles in 1984, when the city played host to the 1984 Olympics. This was peak Reagan era, “America is great again.” There were quibbles from the left-the city’s sweep of the homeless was the main source of outcry, if I rely only on my memory. It was a cringe moment, but soon forgotten due to the success of the games. Today, looking at the current political path the US is on, a cringe moment would be the least of our problems. The parallels between today’s news and World Cup 1978, hosted by Argentina are scary. America today has its own desaparecidos. There are so many heartbreaking stories about the Dirty War, but one story made me wonder what type (if any)of protest we may see in 2026. Will the players or any FA have the courage to do anything like what the groundkeepers at the Estadio Monumental did, painting black armbands at the bottom of the goal posts? And what of ...