Steve Kelman on Politics, Culture, and Life, 4.16.24
Steve Kelman, Harvard Kennedy School prof, moderate Dem, pro free speech/anti cancel culture, pro tax rich, pro-Israel. Research improving gov performance, China interest. Blog reprints Facebook posts
The rise and fall of Trump Media shares
After surging after its initial public offering, shares in Trump Media have now declined 60%. This is the same kind of safe, conservative investment as Trump himself.
Pro-Hamas protesters target Democratic National Committee
A protest meeting whose speaker supported Iran's attack on Israel had been organized to plan a demonstration at the Democratic National Convention. Democrats should be proud to have these enemies.
Burning the American flag
Pro-Palestine protesters burned a US flag yesterday. Back to the future -- older friends will remember these outrages from the sixties.
Trump rallies feature imprisoned insurrectionists
Trump has begun to start his campaign rallies with a video of imprisoned January 6 insurrectionists singing the national anthem. What an insult to democracy.
Professor Francesca Gino at Harvard Business School still on LinkedIn
I was surprised to see that ex-Harvard Business School professor Francesca Gino still has a LinkedIn page, which has a button where people can request consulting services from her.
Chinese sovereign debt downgraded
A rating agency has cut its ratings for Chinese sovereign debt and the debt of state-owned banks.
Meeting Chinese students at the Kennedy School
Just met with a group of Chinese students at the Kennedy School -- nice meeting, nice friendly tone. Think most of them would like to see a more democratic China.
Israel eliminationism
A left-wing grad student union at Harvard that is sadly affiliated with the United Auto Workers has stated it is “concerned that Harvard’s investments and institutional ties have rendered the University materially complicit in the Israeli occupation of Palestine.” The phrase "Israeli occupation of Palestine" (not occupation of the West Bank) seems to refer to the existence of Israel as a nation. This eliminationist language is horrific.
New chip factory in US v. Japan
Taiwan's chip powerhouse company TSMC is building plants in both the US and Japan. Although construction on the Japanese plant began a year later than for the US one, the Japanese plant is now up and running, while the US one is mired in delays.