Political Low Tide

An instructive article from Sunday's New York Times Magazine, Liberals Are Ruining America. I Know Because I Am One by Steve Almond.

I suppose I am a social liberal and a fiscal conservative, seemingly incompatible, but only in short term objectives, not long term aspirations.  In other words, I truly believe that with cooperation we can achieve that fine balance of a safety net for those who need it, and a fairer tax system, with fiscal controls.  But the pollution of the media by extremist talk shows and PAC messages, is crazy making, sound bites to incite their followers, and draw reactions from the opposition.  We've become a nation of finger pointing screamers, and now from arsenal of the Web and Cable, political grenades can be lobbed endlessly, 24x7.   

Back to Steve Almond's admonition:  Imagine, if you will, the domino effect that would ensue if liberals and moderates simply tuned out the demagogues. Yes, they would still be able to manipulate their legions into endorsing cruel and self-defeating policies. But their voices would be sealed within the echo chamber of extremism and sealed off from the majority of Americans who honestly just want our common problems solved.

I'll try, Steve

Some Good News?

To offset the abundant  "bad news" of the last entry, here is an interesting article from Marketwatch on the deleveraging progress: U.S. debt load falling at fastest pace since1950s; Despite surge in federal deficit, America is deleveraging

Some salient points:

* Little by little, our economy is reducing its debt burden, slowly repairing the damage caused by 10, 20 or 30 years of excess.

* Total domestic — public and private — debt as a share of the economy has declined for 12 quarters in a row after surging over the previous decade.

* The level of public debt is indeed worrisome, but it’s not as big a worry as the economy’s total level of debt — public and private.

* As much as we hear politicians, pundits, tea-party patriots and the Congressional Budget Office obsessing about government debt, it was excessive private debt — not public debt — that caused the 2008 financial meltdown. And it was private debt — some of it since transferred to the public — that lies behind the current European debt crisis. (

* The U.S. is actually doing much better than you’d think if you just listened to the conventional fears about how we’re rushing headlong into a debt Armageddon.

* In fact, since the recession ended in June 2009, total U.S. debt has risen at the slowest pace since they began keeping records in the early 1950s. While Washington has taken on a lot of debt since then, the private sector has paid off, written off or dumped on the government almost as much.

* Economists who have studied the impact of indebtedness have found that low levels of debt are essential to growth, but that high levels of total outstanding debt can hurt an economy. Beyond a tipping point, adding on more debt will reduce growth over the long run, even if it inflates a bubble in the short run.

*According to a study by McKinsey published earlier this year, U.S. households may have two more years of deleveraging left before their debts are sustainable again. If McKinsey is right, the U.S. economy may have to endure a couple more years of slow growth.

Another little mentioned factor is that while the public debt has surged during the past few years, maturing debt is being replaced by new debt with coupons (interest rate) of one half or even one fifth the maturing ones. For instance, the US Treasury 30 year bond issued in 1982 had coupons of some 15% while the most recently issued US Treasury 30 Year bond was issued at 3.06%.  Ten year yields are now less than two percent, replacing US Treasury Notes in the 4 - 5% range.  Servicing the debt is actually getting cheaper, although these savings are probably offset due to the expansion of borrowing that has been needed to fend off a depression.. The low rates also leave investors with a continuing dilemma.

   

Anecdotal Headlines Redux

One of the advantages of writing a blog is to be able to understand what I was thinking (or not thinking) at a certain point in time.  It can be satisfying, or amusing, or downright embarrassing looking back. We are all adrift in an ocean of information, the seas fomenting more than ever, that affecting our perception of the horizon, when we can see it at all.  Sometimes, the headlines of the Wall Street Journal seem to cry out a general national Zeitgeist and this weekend's edition was such a moment.  I've noted this phenomenon before, first on Wednesday, December 10, 2008, Anecdotal Headline Annotations, which I prefaced with a sentence that could exactly apply to the most recent edition, three and a half years later: If I was handed a copy of today’s Wall Street Journal only a couple of years ago, I would have thought the headlines were a forecast of an ethical and economic Armageddon. How otherwise does one interpret the following captions, from just one day’s newspaper?  

 

Then, a little more than two years ago, Friday, April 9, 2010, I posted another such moment, Anecdotal Headlines, writing at the time: ...while the Dow basks in the glow of massive liquidity injections in a low interest rate environment, approaching 11,000 as I write this, and investment bankers are rewarding themselves with record bonuses, the economy swims on against the tide of high unemployment (much higher than reported), kicking the state/municipal finance crisis down the road, and rising foreclosures

Usually, extreme headlines happen at inflection points.  Certainly the Dec. 2008 posting was one as far as the stock market is concerned (the Dow bottoming three months later), but the April 2010 posting was during the market's ascent. However, the so called "market" seems to be disconnected from the economy and jobs and whatever recovery there has been of Main Street mostly has been induced by the Federal Reserve and other government stimuli.  Some like to finger point, believing that recent deficit spending is the cause of our economic malaise.  I don't like deficit spending any more than they, but it is overly simplistic to think that if we ran our government like a responsible family, sitting around the ole' kitchen table, budgeting our expenses, tightening our belts, all will be OK.  Running a country is not like running a household, and without the stimulus, who knows where we would be today. 

We are going to hear a lot about the economy, everything being Obama's fault (note now that gas prices have fallen in the last few weeks we no longer hear about his being responsible for those) but another benefit (there are not many) of writing this blog is some of the documentation it provides. The Monday, September 22, 2008 entry, This Fundamental is Whining  is worth revisiting in this regard. Senator Phil Gramm, who had then become a lead economic adviser for McCain’s presidential run, called us (the American public) "a bunch of whiners," saying the only economic problem we have is a "mental recession."  Well we now know that this little "mental recession" was real, could have been a depression (who knows, it still might become one), and it was set in motion long before Obama took office.  Nonetheless, at the time McCain was already blaming Obama for the economy, saying “We've heard a lot of words from Senator Obama over the course of this campaign…But maybe just this once he could spare us the lectures, and admit to his own poor judgment in contributing to these problems. The crisis on Wall Street started in the Washington culture of lobbying and influence peddling, and he was right square in the middle of it."  Obama was to blame even before he became president!  And today, we not only have the residual effects of our own economic problems baked into the cake, there is also the exogenous factor of Europe's slow-motion economic collapse -- something we have no direct ability to control, even if we could agree on anything.  Then, there is the sun-setting of the Bush tax cuts, a fiscal cliff that desperately needs our malfunctioning government to agree on something. What are the chances?

Unfortunately, presidential elections do focus on how people feel at the time, and while we were feeling lousy in 2008 and "hope" was a mantra we eagerly seized, now we will be asked to "hope" some more, or rely on the magic wand of a private equity bailout specialist, Mitt Romney.  It is a nice fantasy (the magic wand), and as the Federal Reserve may be running out of its own magic bullets, the economy and the leading economic indicators will dictate the election, no matter how much tinder the Super Pacs throw on the campaign fires. 

The headlines of today are not much different in tone than those that preceded them, two years ago, and almost four years ago. Two of my favorites from 2010 are: Greek Bond Crisis Spreads and  Fed Chiefs Hint at Low Rates Possibly Into 2011.  Where is Yogi Berra when you need him? "It's deja vu all over again."  But he might have got it wrong with,  "The future ain't what it used to be."

So, how are we to divine our economic and moral future from today's headlines (presented in the order as they appear, just from the first section of the Wall Street Journal June 2/3 2012)?.....

Grim Job Report Sinks Markets

Feeble hiring by U.S. employers in May roiled markets and dimmed the already-cloudy outlook for an economy that appears to be following Europe and Asia into a slowdown

As Costs Soar, Taxpayers Target Pensions of Cops and Firefighters

Edwards Jury Saw Guilt, but Lack of Proof

State Takes Fresh Crack at Mortgages

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will participate in a Nevada program to cut loan balances for certain homeowners who are current on their mortgages but owe more than their houses are worth in what could be a model for other hard-hit states.

Big Scandal for Small Town

Sunland Park, N.M. sees Mayor-elect indicted amid host of lurid allegations.

Sen. Kirk Of Illinois Pushed Coin Bills

Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois pushed for legislation authorizing a collectible coin that generated $2.5 million for an organization that had hired a firm that employed his former girlfriend to lobby for the bill, according to people involved in the matter.

Campaign's Focus Turns to Grim Data

Friday's weaker-than-expected jobs report quickly became the central focus of the presidential campaign, with President Barack Obama seeking to mitigate the political fallout and presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney trying to seize on the disappointing numbers.

Fed is Sure to Step Up Debate on More Stimulus

Friday's dismal jobs report is sure to sharpen a debate at the Federal Reserve about whether to take new actions to spur economic growth, but it likely doesn't settle it.

Euro-Zone Reports Deepen Gloom

Block sets record in number of Jobless as manufacturing activity falls; figures highlight widening North-South divide.

Asia Weakness Heightens Fears of Contagion

Manufacturing activity in China and across a wide swath of Asia slowed in May, heightening fears that the turmoil in Western economies is dragging down one of the few remaining engines of global growth.

Brazil Loses Steam As World Slows

Brazil grew at its slowest pace in more than two years during the first quarter as weak industrial production and a weakening global picture undermined Latin America's largest economy.

Cyprus Is Close to a Request for Bailout

Cyprus looks increasingly set to become the fourth euro-zone country to seek financial aid under Europe's temporary bailout fund, as early as this month, as it scrambles to protect its banking system from Greece's widening financial crisis that is threatening to engulf its tiny island neighbor.

Japan Gives Warning on Yen

The Japanese government went on high alert against the newly rising yen Friday, trying to scare off global investors with multiple threats of intervention in currency markets, but stopping short of direct action to drive the yen down.

Memorial Day Photo

I have been saving this photo from a few weeks ago, when our Pink Bougainvillea were in full bloom, for posting this Memorial Day weekend.  It expresses the day's meaning instead of what is so often associated with it, barbequing and shopping.  This site has some interesting quotes concerning the day and patriotism in general.

Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.

Mark Twain

Proof + Dramaworks = Unforgettable Theater

Dramaworks concludes its most successful season ever, artistically and as a professionally managed regional theater, with the production of David Auburn's Pulitzer Prize and Tony winning Proof.  We attended the first preview last night which was as polished as a regular opening night. 

We've seen Proof before, most recently at the Westport Country Playhouse.  Its South Florida premiere at the Coconut Grove Playhouse was some ten years ago.  And the play, which was later made into a movie, gets conflicted with two other movies in my mind, Good Will Hunting, about a young man who is a mathematical genius but instead becomes a janitor at MIT and needs the help of a psychiatrist to straighten out his life, and A Beautiful Mind, a story based on the life of John Nash, a real-life mathematical genius who, what else, happens to be delusional and paranoid, although he goes on to receive a Nobel Laureate in Economics.  A leitmotif of these films and Proof is the close association of mathematical genius and some form of mental illness. 

Proof  is about such a mathematical genius who suffers from mental illness, the recently deceased Robert, who appears in the play in flashbacks, and in an opening scene fantasy conversation with his daughter Catherine who cared for him during his declining years.  She seems to be following in her father's footsteps, having mathematical abilities, and suffering from depression.  The play looks at that fine line between genius and mental illness, Catherine's fear of inheriting both, while exploring the subjects of love and trust, the latter themes being the real "proof" of the play.

So, what does Dramaworks bring to the table that the other well-worn productions of Proof might have overlooked?  Above all, Dramaworks focuses on the play's deep emotional core, with the characters interacting as finely as a string quartet, the story simply unfolding their fears and suspicions, their hopes and their love.

In addition to Catherine and her father Robert, there is Catherine's sister, Claire, the one person who represents the real world vs. the exalted world of theoretical mathematics. Then there is Hal, a PhD who studied under his mentor, Robert, who thinks he finds a mathematical breakthrough in what he thinks is Robert's papers, but Catherine claims it's authorship.  She also studied math (and perhaps inherited genius) and the question of authorship is the fulcrum of the dramatic tension between and Catherine and Hal, and Catherine and her sister.  Hal and Catherine have also become lovers, complicating this issue further. 

Between the four characters Director Bill Hayes wrings out every drop of meaning intended by Auburn's play, letting the four fine actors find their unique voices in this production.  (I judge emotional depths of a play by the number of tissues Ann needs to get through the production and I noted several being brought to her eyes from her pocketbook.) Hayes also exacts the comedic elements from the play and there are some very funny moments, well pared to some of its darker facets.  The pacing of the play is lively too and I would not be surprised if the drama unfolds more quickly in this production than some others, a factor that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats.

Kenneth Kay's Robert is measured in his "madness" (but not in his love for his daughters), until he volcanically explodes not accepting, or understanding, his final decline in the cold outside his home on the back porch of an old Chicago neighborhood where he and Catherine live. He has been laboring over equations relating to temperatures and seasons, all gibberish, which Catherine is shocked to discover after his short remission during which she left home to study at Northwestern University.  She leads him back into the house and back into her role of caretaker to his death. Kay plays his part perfectly, and you can't help but see in him the decline we all fear or have witnessed in our own families.

The most demanding role is Catherine's played by Katherine Michelle Tanner.  She alternates between being strong, as in her contention that the authorship of "proof" is her own, cynical in some aspects of her relationship to her sister, Claire, and fragile and vulnerable as she reacts to Hal and her father.  She looks disheveled in most of the play, wearing her inner demeanor on her sleeve. Tanner's performance is compelling and as she is almost nearly always on stage one's eyes are drawn to her and her conflicts.

If Catherine has a demanding role, perhaps Claire's is most difficult.  Claire has flown back from New York City to her old childhood home for her father's funeral in which she thinks to rescue her sister and walks into a drama she never expected.  ("People like me have to clear up catastrophes" she proclaims at one point.) Hers is the voice of reason, a woman who really loves her sister and father, trying to do "the right thing" but she always seems to become the heavy, in spite of one comic moment joining in a late night party after her father's funeral with geeks from the University, getting drunk and waking with a hangover the next morning, complaining, "those fucking physicists!"  You find yourself feeling for her, imagining if you were in a similar position, but she just doesn't understand the weightiness of theoretical mathematics, the implications of a "new proof" or the emotional ramifications of doubting her sister's authorship.  Ironically, Claire is played by an actor from New York City, Sarah Grace Wilson, joining three regional actors. But she is no stranger to Dramaworks, having appeared in last year's production of Dinner With Friends. 

Cliff Burgess is becoming a fixture at Dramaworks, this time playing the nerdish Hal, protégé and admirer of Robert, and who becomes the lover and ultimately the advocate of Catherine.  Burgess plays this role to the tee, exacting laughs referring to his band:

Hal: They're all in the math department, they're really good. They have this song called 'i', you'd like it. Like lower-cased i. They just stand there and don't play anything for three minutes.

Catherine: Imaginary number.

Hal: It's a math joke... You see why they're way down on the bill.

Catherine: That's a long way to drive to see some nerds in a band.

Hal: You know, I hate when people say that. It's not really that long of a drive.

Catherine: So, they are nerds.

Hal: Oh, they're raging geeks. But they're geeks who, you know, can dress themselves and hold down a job at a major university. Some of them have switched from glasses to contacts. They, uh, play sports, they play in a band, they get laid surprisingly often... So, it makes you kinda question the whole set of terms. Geek, nerd, wonk, Dilbert, paste eater...

Catherine: You're in this band, aren't you.

Hal: Ok, yes. I play the drums. You wanna come? I never sing, I swear to God

Burgess is ideal for the part and in this following exchange with Catherine, towards the end, expresses the essence of the play, Catherine's deepest fears, and Cliff's statement of support and, finally, trust...

CATHERINE: I think I'm like my dad.

HAL: I think you are too.

CATHERINE: I'm . . . afraid I'm like my dad.

HAL: You're not him.

I can't say enough about the new home of Dramaworks, The Don and Ann Brown Theatre on Clematis Street in West Palm Beach, and the new freedom that the design team, headed by Michael Amico now has to create scenic design that is world class.  Perhaps it was because we were seated in the front row for this performance that made us feel like, indeed, we were in the backyard of a Chicago home in an old neighborhood, a home that is obviously in some state of decline as is Robert. It is Catherine and Claire's childhood home as well. How often have we visited our own childhood homes to be buffeted by the ensuing emotions of such a visit?  That is the feeling one gets from the set design, the lighting, even the music interludes between scenes.

And to say Dramaworks "has arrived" is an understatement.  Unlike some other regional theaters that have gone by the wayside in this hostile economic environment for the arts, Dramaworks has been building, step by step, never overreaching itself, into one of the leading regional theaters in the US.  We're just lucky enough to live nearby.