[i]f You Look At United States History

[t]he Next Time You Hear Serious-sounding People Explaining The Need For Fiscal Austerity, Try To Parse Their Argument. Almost Surely, You'll Discover That What Sounds Like Hardheaded Realism Actually Rests On A Foundation Of Fantasy, On The Belief That Invisible Vigilantes Will Punish Us If We're Bad And The Confidence Fairy Will Reward Us If We're Good. And Real-world Policy - Policy That Will Blight The Lives Of Millions Of Working Families - Is Being Built On That Foundation.

The Raw Fact Is That Every Successful Example Of Economic Development This Past Century ... Has Taken Place Via Globalization.

The Science Fiction World Has A Lot Of People Doing Seriously Imaginative Thinking.

...academic Credentials Are Neither A Necessary Nor A Sufficient Condition For Having Your Ideas Taken Seriously. If A Famous Professor Repeatedly Says Stupid Things, Then Tries To Claim He Never Said Them, There's No Rule Against Calling Him A Mendacious Idiot - And No Special Qualifications Required To Make That Pronouncement Other Than Doing Your Own Homework.conversely, If Someone Without Formal Credentials Consistently Makes Trenchant, Insightful Observations, He Or She Has Earned The Right To Be Taken Seriously, Regardless Of Background.

I Predict That In The Years Ahead Enron, Not Sept. 11, Will Come To Be Seen As The Greater Turning Point In U.s. Society.