World

More on trade. Jagdish Bhagwati says that Obama’s better  – or, rather “a less disturbing prospect” – on trade than Clinton. He gives five reasons: First, Mrs Clinton, in an infamous interview with the Financial Times, responded to a question on support for the Doha round with the need for a pause, whereas Mr Obama has not done so. Second, whereas Mr Obama’s economist is Austan Goolsbee, a brilliant Massachusetts Institute of Technology PhD at Chicago Business School and a valuable source of free-trade advice over almost a decade, Mrs Clinton’s campaign boasts of no professional economist of high repute. Instead, her trade advisers are reputed to be largely from

It would be something of a stretch to compare Hillary Clinton to Napoleon Bonaparte and Barack Obama to the Duke of Wellington. Nonetheless, as this campaign has progressed and Hillary has struggled to find an effective counter to Obama’s organisation and tenacity (to, er, say nothing of the hopes of millions of democrats who hope he can finally topple the tyrant, thus liberating a continent), one of the Iron Duke’s famous lines from Waterloo seems to sum up the plodding uselessness of the Clinton campaign. To wit: They came on in the same old way and we sent them back in the same old way. I think this is the

New Hillary attack! “If speeches could create jobs, we wouldn’t be facing a recession.” And as the old saw has it: “If ifs and ans were pots and pans, there’d be no call for tinkers.” Also: Does this mean Hillary Clinton thinks speeches should be able to create jobs? Or does she just regret the fact that hers can’t? Would a mute President be best? (Well, yes, probably.) (Granted, Obama is no better. He and Clinton both seem to be of the view that poor old King Canute’s sycophants were right – the monarch really can turn back the waves. The oft-maligned Canute knew better of course and organised his

Marc Ambinder has quotes from what the Clinton campaign is billing as a “major contrast” speech she will give in Ohio tonight (I assume this is being leaked in an attempt to divert attention away from what seems likely to be a big win for Obama in Wisconsin tonight). Anyway, among the “highlights”: …Tonight, I want to talk about the choice you have in this election – and why that choice matters…. …This election is not about me or my opponent.  It’s about you.  Your lives, your dreams, your future. Right now, too many people are struggling. Working the day shift, the night shift, trying to get by without health

Salmond says it’s game on! ALEX Salmond would start legal moves to bring Berwick back under Scottish control if the town’s residents voted to leave England in a referendum, it emerged yesterday. A spokesman for the First Minister said borders were “fluid” and there were precedents from around the world of towns changing hands from one government to another. He was responding to the results of a new poll of residents in Berwick-upon-Tweed which found a clear majority in favour of becoming part of Scotland… A spokesman for Mr Salmond said: “If there was an official referendum, there is no administration, no matter what party is in charge, who would