FP asks: “Is the U.S. doomed to a Greek-style meltdown?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/slaterman23/4548207324/

found in LOST

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Is the U.S. doomed to a Greek-style meltdown?

It seems like just yesterday that we were asking ourselves if the United States was Rome. In light of the financial collapse in the other great cradle of Mediterranean civilization, the New York Times’ David Leonhardt poses the inevitable follow-up question:

Un-American Arizona?

Politicians from the City of the Angels have accused the state of Arizona of doing the devil’s work, introducing Nazi-style laws. The conflict is of course about illegal immigration, in a state where new proposals are rubbing hard the old sore of racial discrimination.

Barack Obama: a market report, Godfrey Hodgson

In an age where politics and business thinking have become ever more fused, an appropriate way of looking at the United States presidency might be to see the president as a trader in a political market. He enters the White House with a stock of political capital, accumulated in the successful campaign and in his whole earlier career. To keep afloat, he must venture that capital. If he successfully turns a political profit, he will acquire the means to accomplish what he set out to achieve, and what his supporters expect from him. But he must speculate to accumulate. His future reputation and success will depend on how successfully he trades in the market.

Perception of US becomes more negative in Turkey

Apple Remains America?s Most Innovative Company [REPORT]

from Mashable! by Christina Warren

?The Narrative? is Top Political Buzzword for Midterm Elections

Austin, Texas, April 5, 2010 ? ?The Narrative? is the Top Political Buzzword for the upcoming election cycle, according to a global Internet and media analysis by Austin-based Global Language Monitor.  GLM has been monitoring political buzzwords since 2003.

Survey results: Americans insist on government benefits but don’t want to pay for them

from Boing Boing by Mark Frauenfelder

2010 Bundle Report: How America Spends
Source: Bundle Corporation

The numbers above show how much the average American household spent last year: $37,782, not counting mortgage or rent (which are not included in the Bundle data). Divided into six categories, that?s 23 percent of their daily budget spent on shopping, 14.5 percent on getting around (gas and auto expenses), 17.5 percent on food and drink, 7 percent on travel and leisure, 17 percent on house- and home-related expenses, and 21 percent on health and family.

Lib Dems soar in UK polls after debate

Many U.S. voters were outraged in the 2000 presidential election when Bush Jr. won despite losing the popular vote. But Britain’s electoral map is even weirder. After a spectacular TV debate performance by the leader of the Liberal Democrats–traditional also-rans in UK general elections–the three main parties are nearly tied in polling. And yet still the Lib Dems would win only half the seats in parliament scored by either of the other two parties; and Labour, behind the other two in the polls, would win by far the most.