EuroYankee

I was surprised to see Warren Buffett giving interviews on the state of the US economy to some top European news outlets like Der Spiegel (in German) and El Pais (in Spanish). Basically, he blames financial institutions for the current crisis and said he believes the US has already entered a recession. Or, if it’s not a recession as most economists define it (two quarters of negative growth) than at least something that feels like a recession to the average American.

What I found interesting was to read that he’s in the Old World scouting out his first European acquisition. Damn. I would love to sell out to Warren Buffett. Unfortunately I do not own a company with €50m ($79m, £40m) in pre-tax earnings. I do own a relatively nice record collection heavy on 80s pop. I would sell it to him for 1/62,000 of his estimated wealth. Come on, a million bucks is a small price to pay in exchange for listening to the Captain Sensible classic Wot on the turntable.

(photo credit: jtbrennan)

A big EuroYankee thumbs down to Germany’s leading news magazine, Spiegel for publishing a bizarre interview this week with a self-proclaimed Taliban commander responsible for an area in northern Afghanistan where German troops are stationed (Germany’s politicians are determined to keep the Bundeswehr out of Southern Afghanistan where the real fighting is taking place). The Taliban interviewee goes on and on about killing as many German soldiers as possible.

As a reader I was left thinking that while exclusive interviews are all well and good, it seems a little misguided to give some crackpot a platform to espouse views like the following:

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Who was responsible for the most-recent attempted attacks on German soldiers?

Haqqani: You just don’t understand: There is no need for special orders anymore. The mujahedeen are just doing what they are responsible for doing. To kill and attack Germans is the goal and that is clear to everyone. The entire chain and network is responsible.

I’m also not a fan of interviews where there is no give and take, but rather just endless ranting.

(photo credit: fabbio)

I’ve been following with interest the Einstein debatethat was recently reignited by the auctioning off of a private letter where Einstein disparaged God and religion. It’s interesting how Einstein has been used as an example both of a skeptic and a believer. I think his mixed messages are interesting and deserve more attention. Clearly, he didn’t believe in the type of God that most Church-going Americans would believe in. But he wasn’t willing to publicly jump on the atheist bandwagon either. Was it because he was genuinely confused? Or was he simply trying to avoid controversy in a very religious country?

(photo credit: sifter)

I am a fan of Paul Krugman, but I think his recent article Stranded in Suburbia exhorting Americans to look to Berlin as a model for sustainable living misses an important point. He says:

[I]f we’re heading for a prolonged era of scarce, expensive oil, Americans will face increasingly strong incentives to start living like Europeans — maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of our lives.

I don’t think any incentive will be strong enough to break middle class America’s addiction to personal space. I would argue this need for large living spaces outweighs all other considerations. I wonder how many middle class American families would happily give up their two car garages, their yards, their ability to drive to the grocery store for a shot at European city living. My guess: not many.

Livable cities require high density. There’s a reason why German cities are so livable. All German urbanites live in rented apartments, not houses. No one can afford to buy a house near the city center and most can’t afford to buy an apartment. So everyone lives in rental apartments. Middle class people. Families with three children. Everyone. If you’re lucky, you have a balcony or a small back yard.

Yet the trade off is great. Give up the personal space, get a livable city that is quiet, bikeable, walkable and charming. Of course, go out to the suburbs and things start to get as ugly as any American city. But there’s really no need to go there.

(photo credit: Telstar Logistics)

Whew. It finally got cold and rainy. If there’s one thing that paralyzes me now that I live in The Country Without Summer, it’s a long streak of beautiful weather. I end up staring at the sun as if in a trance. Pay the bills? Forget it. Do dishes? Nah. Blog? Never!

(photo credit: YanivG)