From the print and online editions of the nation's premier urban-policy magazine http://www.city-journal.org/cj-comments.xml?story=6586 Manhattan Institute Don't have a lot of money to buy a car? You should not worry, because that is available to get the personal loans to resolve such kind of problems. Thus take a commercial loan to buy everything you want. http://www.city-journal.org/comments/index.php?story=6586#2566 http://www.city-journal.org/comments/index.php?story=6586#2566 Fri, 19 Nov 2010 12:35:42 EST Why can't Mr Dalrymple simply be acclaimed as Emperor and set to rights the entire world? His observations on the modern world are entirely cogent. He would be the most interesting politician since Churchill. He has his flaws, although they are few. But would you rather be ruled by Obama or Cameron, or the inestimable Dalrymple (I do know your real name). When I review the latest American election, I think of Christine O'Donell. Her views are not probably very different from the eminently reasonable Dr Daniels. Yet, she is an idiot (supposedly) while he is a sage. The problem is that Dr Daniels is a genius with no balls, while Christine had balls aplenty, without intellect. http://www.city-journal.org/comments/index.php?story=6586#2455 http://www.city-journal.org/comments/index.php?story=6586#2455 Mon, 08 Nov 2010 21:08:34 EST French schoolchildren are on, ahem, "strike", for all the usual reasons : they think they can get something for nothing if they make enough of a nuisance of themselves ; they think someone, and, more specifically, the government, owes them a living ; and, the not marginal part of them who are of an African background relish one more occasion to express their hatred of French white aboriginals by smashing up and looting shops, burning cars, pelting stones at the police and mugging the natives. Sadly, their actions are rational, up to a point. For the past thirty years, left-wing and right-wing governments alike have consistently yielded to such thuggish behaviour. The notion that money grows on a magical tree in the gardens of the Elysée palace, and that the virtue of a president is measured by his willingness to climb up that tree and throw wads of cash to the masses, is, by now, an accepted truth across a large part of the population. Up to now, the magical tree has kept its promises. Madoff was an amateur. What will happen when that particular tree dries up is anybody's guess. http://www.city-journal.org/comments/index.php?story=6586#1995 http://www.city-journal.org/comments/index.php?story=6586#1995 Thu, 21 Oct 2010 19:14:46 EDT Lycee is just the French for high school. The "best schools in France" don't go on strike, no time for that. As for the retirement age, don't rush to easy conclusions, most people don't actually retire at 60 at the moment, they have to work more years to get their full pensions. http://www.city-journal.org/comments/index.php?story=6586#1993 http://www.city-journal.org/comments/index.php?story=6586#1993 Thu, 21 Oct 2010 03:49:00 EDT The French. If they had been told by the invading Germans that they had to work longer and take shorter lunches, perhaps they would have found a reason to fight back. Because it is apparent that the only thing they care about is days off. http://www.city-journal.org/comments/index.php?story=6586#1991 http://www.city-journal.org/comments/index.php?story=6586#1991 Wed, 20 Oct 2010 22:16:17 EDT 'Philosophy is still taught to French pupils, not English ones, who are probably by now unreachable and unteachable'. Merde! Quelle une loss!! http://www.city-journal.org/comments/index.php?story=6586#1986 http://www.city-journal.org/comments/index.php?story=6586#1986 Wed, 20 Oct 2010 11:53:14 EDT The students may be afraid that if the French government can raise the retirement age to 62 today, then in 40 years or so it could well go up to 65. Maybe their long guaranteed vacations will grow shorter, they'll lose other entitlements, and they'll eventually find themselves having to work like Germans or even, in their worst nightmares, Americans. http://www.city-journal.org/comments/index.php?story=6586#1982 http://www.city-journal.org/comments/index.php?story=6586#1982 Tue, 19 Oct 2010 18:33:22 EDT I asked my undergraduate principles of micro students to agree or disagree with the following: "The US should raise the retirement age." 27 of 29 disagreed, and one of the two dissenters was a 66 year old retiree taking my class for fun. I was puzzled, but a brief discussion made it clear that they were expecting a wave of retirement to open up some jobs in a pretty dismal labor market. http://www.city-journal.org/comments/index.php?story=6586#1981 http://www.city-journal.org/comments/index.php?story=6586#1981 Tue, 19 Oct 2010 17:43:51 EDT