May 21 2024
Milestones in flight
1 A new centrism has taken over Washington DC
2 ELECTION 2024 OPINION High gas prices in CA affect swing states AZ, NV
3 FDIC Chair resigns
4 BATTLE FOR EURASIA Russian sabotage seen across Europe
5 BATTLE FOR EURASIA German people deeply unhappy
5/21/1927 Charles Lindbergh completes the first solo, nonstop transatlantic flight
5/21/1932 Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to make solo, nonstop transatlantic flight
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1 A new centrism has taken over Washington DC
It may be the most discussed fact about American politics today: The country is deeply polarized. The Republican Party has moved to the right by many measures, and the Democratic Party has moved to the left. Each party sees the other as an existential threat. One consequence of this polarization, politicians and pundits often say, is gridlock in Washington. But in a country that is supposed to have a gridlocked federal government, the past four years are hard to explain. These years have been arguably the most productive period of Washington bipartisanship in decades. During the Covid pandemic, Democrats and Republicans in Congress came together to pass emergency responses. Under President Biden, bipartisan majorities have passed major laws on infrastructure and semiconductor chips, as well as laws on veterans’ health, gun violence, the Postal Service, the aviation system, same-sex marriage, anti-Asian hate crimes and the electoral process. On trade, the Biden administration has kept some of the Trump administration’s signature policies and even expanded them. The trend has continued over the past month, first with the passage of a bipartisan bill to aid Ukraine and other allies and to force a sale of TikTok by its Chinese owner. After the bill’s passage, far-right House Republicans tried to oust Speaker Mike Johnson because he did not block it — and House Democrats voted to save Johnson’s job. There is no precedent for House members of one party to rescue a speaker from the other. Last week, the House advanced another bipartisan bill, on disaster relief, using a rare procedural technique to get around party-line votes. This flurry of bipartisanship may be surprising, but it is not an accident. It has depended on the emergence of a new form of American centrism.
A defining quality of the new centrism is how much it differs from the centrism that guided Washington in the roughly quarter-century after the end of the Cold War, starting in the 1990s. That centrism — alternately called the Washington Consensus or neoliberalism — was based on the idea that market economics had triumphed. By lowering trade barriers and ending the era of big government, the United States would both create prosperity for its own people and shape the world in its image, spreading democracy to China, Russia and elsewhere. That hasn’t worked out. In the U.S., incomes and wealth have grown slowly, except for the affluent, while life expectancy is lower today than in any other high-income country. Although China, along with other once-poor countries, has become richer, it is less free — and increasingly assertive.
The term neopopulism is apt partly because polls show these new policies to be more popular than the planks of the Washington Consensus ever were. Decades ago, politicians of both parties pushed for liberalizing global trade despite public skepticism. In retrospect, many politicians and even some economists believe that Americans were right to be skeptical.
NYT
2 ELECTION 2024 OPINION High gas prices in CA affect swing states AZ, NV
California’s prices are the highest in the country—$5.21 a gallon on average vs. $3.59 nationwide—owing to hefty taxes and burdensome regulations, such as its cap-and-trade program and low-carbon fuel standard. The difficulty of operating refineries in the Golden State has caused many to shut down. More than 60% of the refineries that opened in California during the past 100 years are reportedly no longer operating. Econ 101 teaches that reduced supply increases prices. Here’s the rub: California refineries supply nearly 90% of Nevada’s gasoline and half of Arizona’s. Gasoline prices in Nevada ($4.38 a gallon) and Arizona ($3.90) tend to rise in tandem with those in California. Hence the economic fallout from Sacramento’s unrelenting assault on the oil industry also harms Arizonans and Nevadans.
WSJ
3 FDIC Chair resigns
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg bowed to pressure to resign from the bank regulator after an external investigation found widespread sexual harassment at the agency and lawmakers of both parties berated his leadership. In an email to staff Monday, Gruenberg said he would resign once a successor had been confirmed, avoiding a scenario that would leave FDIC Vice Chairman Travis Hill, a Republican, as the agency’s acting chairman.
The White House said that President Biden would soon nominate a new FDIC chairman and that it expected the Senate to move quickly to confirm the nominee.
WSJ
4 BATTLE FOR EURASIA Russian sabotage seen across Europe
European investigators increasingly see Russian fingerprints around recent acts of suspected sabotage on strategic infrastructure but are struggling to respond. Reacting to clandestine threats is difficult because evidence around the suspected attacks—including a severed undersea gas pipeline, cuts in a vital internet connection and the disruption of a rail network—often isn’t conclusive. Potential culprits in big cases include commercial shipping or fishing vessels that have been engaged in apparently legitimate maritime transport or trawling for fish near sensitive seabed installations that were destroyed around the same time. They rarely have direct connections to Russian authorities, investigators say. European governments have charged some Russians and Russian proxies in smaller incidents and are getting more vocal in accusing Moscow of waging hybrid warfare, but are stopping short of accusing Russia of specific attacks. In the most brazen suspected incidents, a lack of clear proof has prompted officials to leave cases open or declare investigations inconclusive.
WSJ
5 BATTLE FOR EURASIA German people deeply unhappy
there is no misreading the mood in Germany today. A deep malaise has settled on the country. Four-fifths of Germans tell pollsters they are unhappy with their rulers. And a series of upcoming political and electoral trials could test the government to breaking-point. In December 2021, after an election delivered a fragmented parliament, the Social Democrats (spd), Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats (fdp) yoked themselves together in Germany’s first three-party coalition for more than 60 years. After 16 stable but uninspired years under Angela Merkel, the parties in the Ampel coalition, so named because their colours mimic a traffic light, seemed to promise a throupling that would bring excitement and new ideas. Climate change would make awesome demands of Germany’s industrial economy, and the country’s creaking bureaucracy needed yanking into the 21st century. The three parties might not agree on every policy, but shared a commitment to modernising the country.
Economist
5/21/1927 Charles Lindbergh completes the first solo, nonstop transatlantic flight
5/21/1932 Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to make solo, nonstop transatlantic flight
Sources
[5]https://www.economist.com/europe/2024/05/15/germanys-government-is-barely-holding-together
Thanks for reading!
