Tag Archives: rant

Measuring Democracy I: Introducing the Karlin Freedom Index (KFI)

I’ve been meaning to make an in-depth study of the 3 major “freedom indices” – Polity IV (the most objective one), the Economist Democracy Index (fairly arbitrary) & Freedom in the World (a purely ideological project) – for more than … Continue reading

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Another View of the US Economy: Observations on Exergy, GDP & Median Incomes

The standard view of the American economy is one of exponential growth: even if interrupted by a recession once a decade and a Depression once every two generations (the 1890′s, the 1930′s, the 2010′s?), the engines of industry would always … Continue reading

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Безродный Космополит

По окончании Великой Отечественной Войны, в известнoм тосте, Сталин выделил русских, составляющих большинство красноармейцев, как «наиболее выдающуюся нацию из всех наций, входящих в состав Советского Союза». На другой стороне земного шара, в рассказе “Conversation Piece, 1945”, Владимир Набоков описывает пикантную … Continue reading

Posted in Coffee House, Da Russophile, Возвышенное Забвение | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Why Russians like Putin’s Russia

On May 5th, Levada carried out an opinion poll asking Russians what percentage of their family’s income is spent on food. No “Putin licking”, useful idiocy, or ifs and buts about it. It is a very straightforward question, put to … Continue reading

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Sublime News #2

1. In response to Gregor’s surprise over my lack of mention of the Dubai assassination – don’t think it’s important or that anything substantial will come out of it. Britain may make a media ruckus over the faking of their … Continue reading

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The Endgame Begins

A year ago I predicted that there will be a “decoupling from the unwinding“, as “emerging markets” by and large ride out the temporary shocks of declining Western demand for their exports (China) and the interruption of Western credit intermediation … Continue reading

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Philosophical Musings #2

4. Freedom from fear, the only real freedom. Political scientists try to rank countries based on their levels of “freedom”, frequently arbitrarily defined and applied (Freedom House, Economist Democracy Index, Polity IV, etc). Yet despite the inconsistencies and difficulties with … Continue reading

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What I Believe: 2 Year Update

I’ve remembered about the article What We Believe I wrote two years back, in the early days when I was still writing anonymously (as “stalker”) and was pretending to be a team. Had fun rereading it, almost like a time … Continue reading

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