My book World After Capital argues that we are living in a dangerous time of transition: industrial capitalism is breaking down and we don’t yet have a viable alternative. Incumbent politicians are still clinging to fixing the existing system while insurgent populists are arguing for big changes. This to a large degree explains the scary rise of populism we are seeing around the world and in the United States. Populist leaders have come to power around the world in recent years, such as Putin...

My book World After Capital argues that we are living in a dangerous time of transition: industrial capitalism is breaking down and we don’t yet have a viable alternative. Incumbent politicians are still clinging to fixing the existing system while insurgent populists are arguing for big changes. This to a large degree explains the scary rise of populism we are seeing around the world and in the United States. Populist leaders have come to power around the world in recent years, such as Putin...

I have written a few blog posts arguing that we need to strengthen democracy. One of my key takeaways from the current US Presidential election is that the primary election system must be reformed. I am surprised by how many people don’t know this today but the nationwide adoption of a binding primary system for the presidential election happened only after the 1968 Democratic Convention. So it is a relatively new thing and an example that not all innovations are good. What would be a better ...

I have written a few blog posts arguing that we need to strengthen democracy. One of my key takeaways from the current US Presidential election is that the primary election system must be reformed. I am surprised by how many people don’t know this today but the nationwide adoption of a binding primary system for the presidential election happened only after the 1968 Democratic Convention. So it is a relatively new thing and an example that not all innovations are good. What would be a better ...

I have stayed away from commenting on Trump because I prefer to address issues rather than individual politicians. But Trump’s call yesterday to block the entry of all Muslims into the US requires a broad based response. Even Dick Cheney came out saying that this “goes against everything we stand for” (and this from the man who supported torture). I am an immigrant to the United States and one of the things that most attracted me was the profound sense of freedom. The freedom to study where a...

I have stayed away from commenting on Trump because I prefer to address issues rather than individual politicians. But Trump’s call yesterday to block the entry of all Muslims into the US requires a broad based response. Even Dick Cheney came out saying that this “goes against everything we stand for” (and this from the man who supported torture). I am an immigrant to the United States and one of the things that most attracted me was the profound sense of freedom. The freedom to study where a...

I was hoping not to write about the Government Shutdown and the looming debt ceiling. But with us entering the second week of this madness it is becoming hard to ignore and my European friends are beginning to send concerned or enraged emails. So here are my current views. 1. I may be in the minority here but I believe the financial markets would not completely seize up on a technical default by the government. It wouldn’t be pretty but I think enough folks understand the difference between t...

I was hoping not to write about the Government Shutdown and the looming debt ceiling. But with us entering the second week of this madness it is becoming hard to ignore and my European friends are beginning to send concerned or enraged emails. So here are my current views. 1. I may be in the minority here but I believe the financial markets would not completely seize up on a technical default by the government. It wouldn’t be pretty but I think enough folks understand the difference between t...

Last week I spent a few days with family, friends and startups in Germany. When I was at my parents we watched a television debate about Islam, religious freedom and German society. I was struck by the stark contrast to most political debates on US television. The debate had five participants, including the head of one of the largest Muslim organizations in Germany, several German politicians, as well as an outspoken critic of radical Islam. The tone remained civil at all times and the partic...

Last week I spent a few days with family, friends and startups in Germany. When I was at my parents we watched a television debate about Islam, religious freedom and German society. I was struck by the stark contrast to most political debates on US television. The debate had five participants, including the head of one of the largest Muslim organizations in Germany, several German politicians, as well as an outspoken critic of radical Islam. The tone remained civil at all times and the partic...

I have been away for two weeks in Europe. The first skiing and the second meeting with startups in Berlin. As usual while traveling I took a break from blogging which I find helps me in a couple of ways. First, it frees up some more time for reading and I finished two interesting posts (more on those in separate posts). Second, it also gives me a bit more time to think about the bigger picture. And when I do that I unfortunately come back to the my “Is it 1880 or 1914?” post. Most of us worki...

I have been away for two weeks in Europe. The first skiing and the second meeting with startups in Berlin. As usual while traveling I took a break from blogging which I find helps me in a couple of ways. First, it frees up some more time for reading and I finished two interesting posts (more on those in separate posts). Second, it also gives me a bit more time to think about the bigger picture. And when I do that I unfortunately come back to the my “Is it 1880 or 1914?” post. Most of us worki...

Yesterday I wrote about the depressing lack of engineers and scientists in government. Part of my point was that more than ever we are facing problems caused by and solvable with science and engineering. A sampling of stories from yesterday / this morning is the perfect illustration. The New York Times provided an interesting juxtaposition. One front page story was about the De Blasio administration looking at Sweden as a model for reducing traffic accidents in New York City. The other was ab...

Yesterday I wrote about the depressing lack of engineers and scientists in government. Part of my point was that more than ever we are facing problems caused by and solvable with science and engineering. A sampling of stories from yesterday / this morning is the perfect illustration. The New York Times provided an interesting juxtaposition. One front page story was about the De Blasio administration looking at Sweden as a model for reducing traffic accidents in New York City. The other was ab...

… to come to the aid of their country. Here is a supremely depressing chart from Businessweek showing the professional backgrounds of the members of Congress The largest groups in both the House and the Senate are lawyers (yellow) followed by business people (green). On the other extreme there is 1 lone engineer in the Senate and even worse only 2 engineers in the House. There are no scientists in the Senate and 2 in the House. This is a huge problem at a time when many of the issues we confr...

… to come to the aid of their country. Here is a supremely depressing chart from Businessweek showing the professional backgrounds of the members of Congress The largest groups in both the House and the Senate are lawyers (yellow) followed by business people (green). On the other extreme there is 1 lone engineer in the Senate and even worse only 2 engineers in the House. There are no scientists in the Senate and 2 in the House. This is a huge problem at a time when many of the issues we confr...

Recent political research has provided evidence that state level corruption increases the further the capital is from the state’s dominant city. Living in New York and having seen the corrupt mess that is Albany this comes as no surprise. As past readers of Continuations know, I am a supporter of Represent.us and the American Anti-corruption Act. Also, here is a longer post that explains why the influence of money in politics has been growing ever more problematic. If you are a registered Dem...

Recent political research has provided evidence that state level corruption increases the further the capital is from the state’s dominant city. Living in New York and having seen the corrupt mess that is Albany this comes as no surprise. As past readers of Continuations know, I am a supporter of Represent.us and the American Anti-corruption Act. Also, here is a longer post that explains why the influence of money in politics has been growing ever more problematic. If you are a registered Dem...

I am co-hosting an event on May 14 at the BuzzFeed offices with folks from Represent.us / United Republic and others backing the American Anti-corruption Act. We will be discussing the rationale behind the Act and how the campaign plans to pass it via ballot initiative in cities, counties, states, and eventually federally. We are getting together from 6:30 to 8:30pm, and food and drink will be served. If you are interested please email me so that I can get your name added to the list (firstna...

I am co-hosting an event on May 14 at the BuzzFeed offices with folks from Represent.us / United Republic and others backing the American Anti-corruption Act. We will be discussing the rationale behind the Act and how the campaign plans to pass it via ballot initiative in cities, counties, states, and eventually federally. We are getting together from 6:30 to 8:30pm, and food and drink will be served. If you are interested please email me so that I can get your name added to the list (firstna...