Steve Kelman on Politics, Culture, and Life
I am Steve Kelman, Harvard Kennedy School professor. I do research on improving government performance and am interested in China. This blog will reprint many of my Facebook posts in these areas.
10/8/2021
Worst behind us on covid?
Dr. Jha, the TV covid public health expert, just said on the Today show that "the worst is behind us" on covid.
Wall Street biggest pro-China lobby in Washington
The Times reports today that the main pro-China lobby in the US now is Wall Street, anxious to make money doing money management and selling financial services in China
Muslima?
I saw on Rashida Tlaib's Twitter feed she identified herself as a "Muslima." All these politicized neologisms are getting annoying!
CEO of China’s premier hard liquor company imprisoned for corruption
Moutai is China’s leading producer of “bai jiu” (white liquor), China’s 60% alcohol drink that tastes like turpentine, favored at banquets with government and party officials. (There have been attempts to force me to drink this a number of times in China, how I avoid this can be the topic of another post.) The company’s CEO has been sentenced to life imprisonment for corruption.
School shootings
There have been five school shootings in the US during the last week.
Rashida Tlaib and Kamala Harris?
I was shocked to see on Rashida Tlaib's Twitter feed at the bottom, where it has a list of people they suggest to follow, that one of them for her, along with other members of the Squad, was Kamala Harris. How do these pairings get determined?
Government run for benefit of its employees?
Government Executive has a long article today on agency plans to go back to in person work. They seem unaggressive, to say the least. At the Kennedy school, we are back to in person classes and meetings, with a weekly requirement for covid tests. I don't have a good idea what is happening in corporate America. I worry a little bit that the this slowness to bring people back to the office may reflect simply making life easier for employees rather than furthering the mission. What do people think?