thinkable about Washington's addiction to
possible courses of events in which Ameri-
cans wake up one day and decide that enough
is enough seem very plausible," he writes.
and the collapse of the dollar to alter the
politics of deficit reduction."
contemplates the fundamental dilemma in
policies governing illicit drugs.
lion drug prisoners; the transformation of Af-
ghanistan, Myanmar, Bolivia and, arguably,
Mexico, into narco-states," he writes. "But it is
hard to describe what an unambiguously bet-
ter drug policy would look like because every
path has pitfalls."
curity Advisory Board, explain the connec-
stagnation. "The ballooning cost of em-
ployer-paid health insurance has claimed
much of the gain associated with rising labor
productivity in this decade," they conclude.
reforming the insurance system, escalating
medical bills could easily absorb all the fruits
of the future productivity gains of lower- and
middle-income workers.
cautiously optimistic that Brazil is finally
coming into its own. "A center-left govern-
ment has made great strides in correcting the
injustices that stranded millions of Brazilians
on the edge of subsistence in the midst of a
culture that celebrates material excess and it
has managed that task so far without under-
mining the economy's stability or productiv-
ity," he observes. "Enduring evolutionary
change in the 21st century, under a demo-
cratic Nova República, no longer seems an im-
possible dream."