6.29 Eduardo Porter in the Times: “The British political scientist Andrew Gamble at the University of Cambridge has argued that Western capitalism has experienced two transformational crises since the end of the 19th century. The first, brought about by the Depression of the 1930s, ended an era in which governments bowed to the gospel of the gold standard and were expected to butt out of the battles between labor and capital, letting markets function on their own, whatever the consequences.. . .[Keynes’ views provided] the basis for a new post-World War II orthodoxy favoring active government intervention in the economy and a robust welfare state. But that era ended when skyrocketing oil prices and economic mismanagement in the 1970s brought about a combination of inflation and unemployment that fatally undermined people’s trust in the state.. . .The Keynesian era ended when Thatcher and Reagan rode onto the scene with a version of capitalism based on tax cuts, privatization and deregulation that helped revive their engines of growth but led the workers of the world to the deeply frustrating, increasingly unequal economy of today. There are potentially constructive approaches to set the world economy on a more promising path. For starters, what about taking advantage of rock-bottom interest rates to tap the world’s excess funds to build and repair a fraying public infrastructure? That would employ legions of blue-collar workers and help increase economic growth, which has been only inching ahead across much of the industrialized world. After the Brexit vote, Lawrence Summers, former Treasury secretary under President Clinton and one of President Obama’s top economic advisers at the nadir of the Great Recession, laid out an argument for what he called “responsible nationalism,” which focused squarely on the interests of domestic workers. Instead of negotiating more agreements to ease business across borders, governments would focus on deals to improve labor and environmental standards internationally. They might cut deals to prevent cross-border tax evasion. There is, however, little evidence that the world’s leaders will go down that path. Despite the case for economic stimulus, austerity still rules across much of the West. In Europe, most governments have imposed stringent budget cuts — ensuring that all but the strongest economies would stall. In the United States, political polarization has brought fiscal policy — spending and taxes — to a standstill.”
6.29 Paul Simon, quoted in the Times. “I was 21, maybe 22, when I wrote ‘The Sound of Silence,’ which seems to me like quite a big jump from where I was before that,” he said. “And why or where, I have no idea. I thought the same thing when I wrote ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ —whoa, that song is better than what I’ve been doing. Different chords and something special about it. The same feeling with ‘Graceland,’ and ‘Still Crazy After All These Years.’”The successes mystify him, he said: “All of a sudden you’re there, and you’re surprised. This happened to me at times where some line comes out, where I’m the audience and it’s real, and I have to stop, because I’m crying. I didn’t know I was going to say that, didn’t know that I felt that, didn’t know that was really true. I have to stop and catch my breath.” Also: “It’s an act of courage to let go,” Mr. Simon said. “I am going to see what happens if I let go. Then I’m going to see, who am I? Or am I just this person that was defined by what I did? And if that’s gone, if you have to make up yourself, who are you?”
![<strong>6.29 Eduardo Porter</strong> in the <em>Times</em>: “The British political scientist <strong>Andrew Gamble</strong> at the University of Cambridge has argued that Western capitalism has experienced two transformational crises since the end of the 19th century. The first, brought about by the Depression of the 1930s, ended an era in which governments bowed to the gospel of the gold standard and were expected to butt out of the battles between labor and capital, letting markets function on their own, whatever the consequences.. . .[Keynes’ views provided] the basis for a new post-World War II orthodoxy favoring active government intervention in the economy and a robust welfare state. But that era ended when skyrocketing oil prices and economic mismanagement in the 1970s brought about a combination of inflation and unemployment that fatally undermined people’s trust in the state.. . .The Keynesian era ended when <strong>Thatcher and Reagan</strong> rode onto the scene with a version of capitalism based on tax cuts, privatization and deregulation that helped revive their engines of growth but led the workers of the world to the deeply frustrating, increasingly unequal economy of today. There are potentially constructive approaches to set the world economy on a more promising path. For starters, what about taking advantage of rock-bottom interest rates to tap the world’s excess funds to build and repair a fraying public infrastructure? That would employ legions of blue-collar workers and help increase economic growth, which has been only inching ahead across much of the industrialized world. After the Brexit vote, <strong>Lawrence Summers</strong>, former Treasury secretary under <strong>President Clinton</strong> and one of <strong>President Obama</strong>’s top economic advisers at the nadir of the Great Recession, laid out an argument for what he called “responsible nationalism,” which focused squarely on the interests of domestic workers. Instead of negotiating more agreements to ease business across borders, governments would focus on deals to improve labor and environmental standards internationally. They might cut deals to prevent cross-border tax evasion. There is, however, little evidence that the world’s leaders will go down that path. Despite the case for economic stimulus, austerity still rules across much of the West. In Europe, most governments have imposed stringent budget cuts — ensuring that all but the strongest economies would stall. In the United States, political polarization has brought fiscal policy — spending and taxes — to a standstill.”<br />
<strong>6.29 Paul Simon</strong>, quoted in the <em>Times</em>. “I was 21, maybe 22, when I wrote ‘The Sound of Silence,’ which seems to me like quite a big jump from where I was before that,” he said. “And why or where, I have no idea. I thought the same thing when I wrote ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ —whoa, that song is better than what I’ve been doing. Different chords and something special about it. The same feeling with ‘Graceland,’ and ‘Still Crazy After All These Years.’”The successes mystify him, he said: “All of a sudden you’re there, and you’re surprised. This happened to me at times where some line comes out, where I’m the audience and it’s real, and I have to stop, because I’m crying. I didn’t know I was going to say that, didn’t know that I felt that, didn’t know that was really true. I have to stop and catch my breath.” Also: “It’s an act of courage to let go,” Mr. Simon said. “I am going to see what happens if I let go. Then I’m going to see, who am I? Or am I just this person that was defined by what I did? And if that’s gone, if you have to make up yourself, who are you?”<br />
<strong>6.29 Henry Porter</strong> in <em>vf.com</em>: “Many Leave supporters, it seems, placed their dislike of immigrants above the economic consequences of seceding from Europe. But outside, in the real world, those consequences are already becoming quite real and far-reaching. The pound has fallen further to reach a 31-year low, and the Dow Jones has dropped 900 points in two days. Britain has lost its AAA credit rating; deals seem to be dead in the water; signs are already emerging that inward investment will begin to dry up; and no one seems to have the faintest idea about how Britain might finance a 7 percent deficit. (The U.K., after all, relies on foreign investors, now spooked, to fund the shortfall on its balance of payments.) A de-valuation of the pound sterling now seems possible. None of this is all that surprising. It was all predicted by those, like myself, who campaigned to remain in the E.U. Now the question is whether Leave voters will change their opinions as interest rates rise and people lose their jobs. Across Britain, there are now large numbers of people already expressing remorse. If we had the vote tomorrow, knowing what we do now, I’m certain that the majority would choose to remain.”<br />
<strong>6.28 Frank Luntz</strong>, quoted in vf.com: “It’s tough, but the positive approach combines offering voters security and independence: security so they can be protected against unpredictability, and independence so they can once again have the potential of achieving their dreams. It requires a safety net and an ability to reach for the stars. . . .If they wanted to push a positive message, they need three attributes. One, they have to demonstrate accountability and willingness to make mistakes, but neither of them are. Two, they have to have a commitment to common sense. The voters in the middle aren’t looking for ideology, they’re looking to get things done. Third, they have to promise a more efficient, more effective, more accountable government. Voters aren’t asking for less government, they’re not asking for a more limited government; whatever government they have, they want it to work.. . .The debates drove me nuts because they were asking candidates to answer complex questions in 60 seconds. You cannot explain foreign policy in 135 words. It’s impossible. You cannot provide a jobs program for those who are chronically unemployed, or a solution to education for our rural areas and our cities in 135 words. It’s impossible. And yet that is what we are not just encouraging, it is what we demand from our candidates. And so you get the superficial and the sound bite rather than the substance. And it’s not just tragic anymore, I think it’s highly destructive.”<br />
<strong>6.29 Henry Porter</strong> in <em>vf.com</em>: “Many Leave supporters, it seems, placed their dislike of immigrants above the economic consequences of seceding from Europe. But outside, in the real world, those consequences are already becoming quite real and far-reaching. The pound has fallen further to reach a 31-year low, and the Dow Jones has dropped 900 points in two days. Britain has lost its AAA credit rating; deals seem to be dead in the water; signs are already emerging that inward investment will begin to dry up; and no one seems to have the faintest idea about how Britain might finance a 7 percent deficit. (The U.K., after all, relies on foreign investors, now spooked, to fund the shortfall on its balance of payments.) A de-valuation of the pound sterling now seems possible. None of this is all that surprising. It was all predicted by those, like myself, who campaigned to remain in the E.U. Now the question is whether Leave voters will change their opinions as interest rates rise and people lose their jobs. Across Britain, there are now large numbers of people already expressing remorse. If we had the vote tomorrow, knowing what we do now, I’m certain that the majority would choose to remain.”</p>
<p><a href=](http://jamiemalanowski.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/541546950-1024x683.jpg)
6.28 Pat Summitt dies at 64
6.28 Buddy Ryan dies at 85
6.28 Frank Luntz, quoted in vf.com: “It’s tough, but the positive approach combines offering voters security and independence: security so they can be protected against unpredictability, and independence so they can once again have the potential of achieving their dreams. It requires a safety net and an ability to reach for the stars. . . .If they wanted to push a positive message, they need three attributes. One, they have to demonstrate accountability and willingness to make mistakes, but neither of them are. Two, they have to have a commitment to common sense. The voters in the middle aren’t looking for ideology, they’re looking to get things done. Third, they have to promise a more efficient, more effective, more accountable government. Voters aren’t asking for less government, they’re not asking for a more limited government; whatever government they have, they want it to work.. . .The debates drove me nuts because they were asking candidates to answer complex questions in 60 seconds. You cannot explain foreign policy in 135 words. It’s impossible. You cannot provide a jobs program for those who are chronically unemployed, or a solution to education for our rural areas and our cities in 135 words. It’s impossible. And yet that is what we are not just encouraging, it is what we demand from our candidates. And so you get the superficial and the sound bite rather than the substance. And it’s not just tragic anymore, I think it’s highly destructive.”
6.28 David Brooks in the Times: Anybody who spends time in the working-class parts of America (and, one presumes, Britain) notices the contagions of drug addiction and suicide, and the feelings of anomie, cynicism, pessimism and resentment. Part of this pain arises from deindustrialization. Good jobs are hard to find. But hardship is not exactly new to these places. Life in, say, a coal valley was never a bouquet of roses. What’s also been lost are the social institutions and cultural values that made it possible to have self-respect amid hardship — to say, “I may not make a lot of money, but people can count on me. I’m loyal, tough, hard-working, resilient and part of a good community.” We all have a sense of what that working-class honor code was, but if you want a refresher, I recommend J.D. Vance’s new book “Hillbilly Elegy.” Vance’s family is from Kentucky and Ohio, and his description of the culture he grew up in is essential reading for this moment in history. He describes a culture of intense group loyalty. Families might be messed up in a million ways, but any act of disloyalty — like sharing personal secrets with outsiders — is felt acutely. This loyalty culture helps people take care of their own, but it also means there can be hostility to those who want to move up and out. And there can be intense parochialism. “We do not like outsiders,” Vance writes, “or people who are different from us, whether difference lies in how they look, how they act, or, most important, how they talk.” It’s also a culture that values physical toughness. It’s a culture that celebrates people who are willing to fight to defend their honor. This is something that progressives never get about gun control. They see a debate about mass murder, but for many people guns are about a family’s ability to stand up for itself in a dangerous world. It’s also a culture with a lot of collective pride. In my travels, you can’t go five minutes without having a conversation about a local sports team. Sports has become the binding religion, offering identity, value, and solidarity. Much of this pride is nationalistic. . . .But the honor code has also been decimated by the culture of the modern meritocracy, which awards status to the individual who works with his mind, and devalues the class of people who work with their hands. Most of all, it has been undermined by rampant consumerism, by celebrity culture, by reality-TV fantasies that tell people success comes in a quick flash of publicity, not through steady work. The sociologist Daniel Bell once argued that capitalism would undermine itself because it encouraged hedonistic short-term values for consumers while requiring self-disciplined long-term values in its workers. At least in one segment of society, Bell was absolutely correct.”
6.26 Dustin Johnson wins the US Open golf tournament, but coverage is dominated by images of hi girlfriend Paulina Gretzky‘s skirt.
6.26 George Will on Trump: “He has an advantage on me, because he can say everything he knows about any subject in 140 characters and I can’t.”
6.25 Jonathan Rauch in The Atlantic: “Trump, however, didn’t cause the chaos. The chaos caused Trump. What we are seeing is not a temporary spasm of chaos but a chaos syndrome.Chaos syndrome is a chronic decline in the political system’s capacity for self-organization. It begins with the weakening of the institutions and brokers—political parties, career politicians, and congressional leaders and committees—that have historically held politicians accountable to one another and prevented everyone in the system from pursuing naked self-interest all the time. As these intermediaries’ influence fades, politicians, activists, and voters all become more individualistic and unaccountable. The system atomizes. Chaos becomes the new normal—both in campaigns and in the government itself.6.24 The Washington Post: “That confusion over what Brexit might mean for the country’s economy appears to have been reflected across the United Kingdom on Thursday. Google reported sharp upticks in searches not only related to the ballot measure but also about basic questions concerning the implications of the vote. At about 1 a.m. Eastern time, about eight hours after the polls closed, Google reported that searches for “what happens if we leave the EU” had more than tripled.”
6.25 Lunch with my dear friend Jim Noonan at the London Hotel.
6.24 Donald Trump on the impact of Brexit: “You know, when the pound goes down, more people are coming to Turnberry, frankly.”
6.23 Michael Gerson in the Washington Post: “Republican convention delegates are sophisticated enough to see what is happening. The Trump campaign claims to be lean; in most of the country, including the battleground states, it is nonexistent. Trump offers his leadership as the solution to every problem yet presides over a campaign organization that is a squabbling, paralyzed amateur hour. Delegates know that even if Trump can boost his poll numbers, he cannot magically create a viable, national campaign structure. If a revolt emerges, it will happen first in the GOP convention rules committee — which meets a week before the convention and is stacked with officials more loyal to the party than to Trump. The simplest move would be to require a supermajority to select a nominee — an approach taken by some Republican state conventions in order to avoid the choice of badly wounded candidates. The goal should be a truly open convention, which does not choose anyone Trump has already beaten.
6.23 Brexit: The UK votes to leave the EU
6.22 Ginny has her knee replaced
6.20 Paul Wideman in the Post: “Unlike some neophyte candidates, Trump not only doesn’t know what he doesn’t know, but also insists that he doesn’t need to know it. Whatever deep insecurities drive his constant preening bluster, he isn’t going to let anyone tell him that he’s anything less than a genius and things aren’t going great. Which means that as the campaign goes on and his situation gets worse, he’ll be exceedingly unlikely to make the kind of changes he needs to reverse his fortunes. Trump is no stranger to failure, but in his life as a businessman he could segregate those failures from the rest of his enterprises, at least enough to keep moving forward and find other ways to make money. He could fail at the casino business, or the steak business, or the vodka business, or the magazine business, or the airline business, or the football business, or the real estate seminar business, or the vitamin pyramid scheme business, and maintain the viability of his overall brand. But he has never been on a stage like this one before. He didn’t have hundreds of reporters on the steak beat scrutinizing every twist and turn in the decline of Trump Steaks and putting the results of their reporting on every front page in America. But now he does, and he can’t just drop one scheme and move on to the next one. In that interview with Hallie Jackson, Trump said, “We really haven’t started. We start pretty much after the convention, during and after.” But his problem isn’t that he hasn’t started; it’s that he started a year ago — digging himself into a hole it’s going to be awfully hard to climb out of.
Yian Q. Mui in the Post: “The size of the nation’s workforce — known as the labor force participation rate — continues to fall. Since the start of the downturn, the percentage of that population that has a job or is looking for one has dropped more than 3 percentage points, to 62.6 percent, a level not seen since the 1970s. The problem is particularly pronounced among men between the ages of 25 and 54, traditionally considered the prime working years. Their participation rate has been declining for decades, but the drop-off accelerated during the recession. The high mark was 98 percent in 1954, and it now stands at 88 percent. A new analysis from the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers, slated for release Monday, found that the United States now has the third-lowest participation rate for “prime-age men” among the world’s developed countries. In other words, Greece, Slovenia and Turkey have a larger share of men in their workforces than the United States does. The United States beats only Italy 
and Israel.. . .[T]he CEA concludes that the problem is one of education and the erosion of demand for low-skilled workers. More than 90 percent of college-educated men are in the workforce, compared with 83 percent of those with a high school diploma or less. It’s a theme seen time and again in our increasingly globalized and high-tech economy: Blue-collar jobs that were once the cornerstone of the middle class get outsourced or replaced by automation.
6.20 The Cleveland Cavaliers defeat the Golden State Warriors, becoming the first NBA team to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the Finals, and bringing Cleveland its first major league championship since 1964
6.18 Donald Trump: “I feel like a supermodel. Except like times 10. It’s true. I’m a supermodel. I’m on the cover of these magazines—I’m on the cover of the biggest magazines.” Hey Don–Happy to help!
6.17 Ayesha Curry, after Golden State’s defeat in Game 6: ““I’ve lost all respect sorry this is absolutely rigged for money. Or ratings in (sic) not sure which. I won’t be silent . Just saw it live sry.”
