A. Scott Piraino This is how Rome fell. First a vibrant empire comprised of wealthy citizens was reduced to an aristocracy. Then that decadent, impoverished empire was overcome by external enemies. Roman civilization has many parallels to our own. The Roman Empire is a historical construct, contemporary Romans always referred to their country as a Republic. Of course Rome was an empire, as successive Emperors consolidated power and began ruling far flung provinces. But the republican values ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache |
Responsible TerrorismA. Scott PirainoThere is a simple, and logical explanation for Islamic terrorism. In an interview broadcast after the September 11th attacks Osama Bin Laden asked a question: "Why should fear, killing, destruction, displacement, orphaning and widowing continue to be our lot, while security, stability and happiness be your lot?" He answered this question by saying, "This is unfair."Then he claimed that we "bear hate and grudge against Islam". He continued ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache |
Reaganomics at WarA. Scott Piraino In 1981, when Ronald Reagan was sworn in, this
country faced the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
President Reagan proposed a novel solution, lowering tax rates on the
wealthiest Americans so they could spend and invest more money. His
administration argued that only this increased economic activity could
lift the country out of recession.Quasi-economic terms like
"supply side" and "trickle down" were used to give Reagan's proposal an
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The Forgotten DeficitA. Scott Piraino Last year the United States posted a trade deficit of 726 billion dollars,
that's an astronomical, outrageous amount of money. Our cumulative
trade deficits since 1980 add up to over six trillion dollars. That's
the second largest transfer of wealth in history, second only to our
national debt.Nowhere is this transfer of wealth more apparent
than in East Asia. Over the last twenty five years growing trade
surpluses with the US have fueled an unprecedented economic expansion ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache |
The Third DepressionA. Scott PirainoThe US economy as we know it will soon
collapse. This has happened before, twice, and history is about to
repeat itself again. This will be the Third Depression the United
States has suffered, and it will probably be the worst.In the
Gilded Age of the 1890's, and the Roaring 1920's, improvements in
technology and industry fueled rapid economic expansions. Capitalism
was revered as the new engine of progress, onerous government
regulations were an impediment to growth. These ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache |
