Prediction One: We will see the beginning of protectionism. It’s what always happens when populism and nationalism rear their ugly heads: we decide to look out for ourselves and the rest of the world retaliates. Quotas, tariffs, and other barriers to trade are an inseparable part of populism. It tends to breed inflation and eventually, war. Prediction Two: It will be aired on every major channel and despite the apparent disruption of the domestic or world order, most will not care because it’s free entertainment. If you think about, Hollywood couldn’t produce a crazier series, yet it will be a huge global hit because he is outrageous and unpredictable and great for ratings. It will be a little like All in the Family except Archie

The election was won—as I thought it would be in my post of 9/22 (https://www.moviesmarketsandmore.com/the-clinton-curse-or-the-time-of-trump/) by the anti-candidate and the disruptor. Democrats had two potential disruptors in Warren and Sanders, either of whom could have won the election for president (and whose candidacies would probably have helped Dems gain the senate majority) were it not for the ambitions of Hilary Clinton—who offered to disrupt NOTHING except the gender of the most powerful leader in the world. In her insatiable appetite for political power and by applying her influence with the DNC, Clinton cost the country a chance at real change—instead of what will doubtless become control by Republicans and the conservative elite of all three branches of government: Congressional, Executive, and Judicial. My hopes, fears,

Over the last year, Americans–and for that matter the world – witnessed the onset of a new era. I covered this to an extent in my post on Brexit  where I posited some rather dark parallels to the events of the early 20th century (https://www.moviesmarketsandmore.com/brexit-rings-the…-dis-integration/ ). But the surprising facts of the Trump candidacy and the weakening Clinton candidacy are further evidence this trend is in full swing and gathering momentum. The reality is that populism, nationalism, isolationism and protectionism are on the way in and globalism, inclusiveness, and pluralism are on the way out. With less than two months to go, it appears very possible that Donald Trump will be our new president. I would go so far as to set the odds at

With the recent heralding of the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, I find myself transported to the living room floor, crouched alongside my brother in front of the family’s sole TV. Tuned in to one of the few available channels, but “tuning in” with purpose, it became a ritual filled with mysticism and meaning. At the time, and sufficiently stimulated after the show, it only meant that we might demonstrate the Vulcan neck pinch on our sister or younger brother. But today, I reflect on how the show expanded my worldview. Anyone who watched it was forced to consider the implications of ever-bolder space launches and the terrific vaults of technology into abysses of space and time and even being. That small screen made me,

        “Hatred is the most accessible and comprehensive of all the unifying agents. Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without belief in a devil.” -Eric Hoffer   “Global warming” is double entendre. The more immediate kind of global warming is not about climate change, it’s about the heat of a future Hades that moves closer with every new shooting and renewed hostilities between nations, religious groups, racial groups, or social classes. Every day I peruse the headlines and stories of major online newspapers. Not since I was very young and witnessed the race and anti-war riots of the ‘60s, do I recall such a tense mood. But it’s different this time; humanity itself is hot under

Most people want to talk about Brexit as a rogue event—like the appearance of a comet or a solar eclipse. It should be viewed, though, as an important point on a continuum that marks a transition point in a decades-long global swing toward economic and political integration. Since Reagan and Thatcher and the collapse of communism, we have seen nearly thirty years of increasingly free-market policies with regard to trade, regulation and taxes—this on a global scale. The effects have been to promote economic integration and the financialization of the world.  The financialization is important in that it promotes debt-fueled feudalism—again, on an individual and a national level: the Greeks are an example of how debt leaves a country in servitude to the paymasters; the

In the Economics and Finance classes I teach, the most stimulating class session covers the topic of money. Students express a curious confusion when I introduce a specific riddle, a koan for them to mediate upon. I ask them to explain the statement: “The prices of food, oil, gold, and property often don’t rise at all.” [pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”One year, for example, the price of gold is 1200 dollars per ounce,” I suggest. “And one year later gold is 1300 dollars per ounce.  If I tell you that gold did not go up, what else could possibly have happened?”[/pullquote] They wonder if I am joking and prepare to rebut my assertion with evidence of consistent increases in the prices of just about

John LeCarre’ is the greatest spy novelist alive today. He has been the greatest for decades. Since The Spy Who Came in from the Cold debuted in 1963, his métier has been Cold War espionage, the Russians and the British: MI6 against the KGB and all its sister agencies in Eastern Europe. Many of his books were made into BBC series, and others became feature films. I found it remarkable that based his 1995 book of the same name, The Night Manager miniseries debuted on AMC Tuesday of this week. It’s remarkable because the story centers on a super-rich British national who runs arms and manages laundered money from the Caribbean (some of it perhaps for members of parliament or the ministry) and in the

Sometimes, moments after I read and digest it, there’s a headline that has an ominous quality about it. When I read about the leak of material from the Panamanian law firm Massack Fonseca, I sensed a socio-seismic event that could send shockwaves through the upper crust of the globe. There is so much material here—much it in a web of phony corporations and cutouts–that it will take weeks and months for all of it to come out. There are already hundreds of journalists working on the story, and there can be no doubt that it will include more big, big names. This gradual flow of facts might be for the best: there is so much pure Truth here that, like light or oxygen, we can’t

If you have never heard Sean Connery sing, then you have your first reason to see this film. If you want to work on your Irish accent and refine your understanding of leprechauns, pots of gold, banshees and other magical elements of lore from the Old Country, then you have two. [pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Sean Connery was only twenty nine years old and, believe it or not, he sings pretty well. [/pullquote] Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959) is pure Disney, pure Irish, and a perfect delight–especially on March 17th.  Sean Connery was only twenty-nine years old and, believe it or not, he sings pretty well. As I am one quarter Irish–my grandmother a Murphy clan matron–all credit for whatever creativities