GOOD READING AND LISTENING FOR THE WEEKEND …

May 5, 2018

“I know it’s not true but it could be true”.  In the New York Times Daniel Effron of the London Business School explains Why Trump Supporters don’t Mind his Lies.  Even if we know that a story is untrue, if it aligns with our prejudices, and if we can imagine a situation where a similar story might be true, the story tends to confirm our prejudices.

Writing in Fairfax media Jessica Irvine presents two views – one from the economic right, one from the economic centre, about the likely effect of the budget on young people. Tony Shepherd, who headed Tony Abbott’s Commission of Audit, emphasises the future liability of government debt. Saul Eslake, says that “the whole system of income, wealth and taxes has all been changed in a way which advantages baby boomers at the expense of their kids”. From either perspective the budget will probably be tough on young Australians.

Poor little rich boys. On the ABC Religion and Ethics Report Andrew West interviews psychiatrist and author Tanveer Ahmed about the how those who have accumulated large financial wealth in the finance sector are grappling morally with their situation. How does one project a sense of virtue, how does one feel one’s life has meaning, when one’s financial fortune comes not from building a business or helping improve the human condition, but from taking commissions in the finance sector? (15 minutes).

Why we should bulldoze the business school – Martin Parker, the Guardian.

On Iran and North Korea, Trump prepares to screw everything up – Paul Waldman, The Washington Post

Fact check: Is Australia’s tax to GDP ratio lower now than it was throughout the Howard years? – Josh Gordon, ABC News

Investment Boom From Trump’s Tax Cut Has Yet to Appear – Matt Phillips and Jim Tankersley, The New York Times

Trump becomes more dovish toward North Korea, but surrounds himself with hawks – David Nakamura and John Hudson, The Washington Post

There’s No Escape From Australia’s Refugee Gulag – Mark Isaacs, Foreign Policy

Malcolm Turnbill has become a de-facto climate denier – Giles Parkinson, RE New Economy

Crooked Trump? – Noah Feldman, The New York Review of Books

Why Trump supporters don’t mind his lies – Daniel A Effron, The New York Times

On ABC Saturday Extra:

A peaceful revolution in Armenia could lead to opposition MP Nikol Pashinhyan becoming Prime Minister, a man who has previously been jailed for arranging street protests. (Olesya Vartanyan) Why has Turkey’s leader Recep Erdogan just announced early elections?  (Fadi Hakura and Dr David Tittensor) Scene-setter for the weekend elections in Malaysia (James Chin) Investigations into Australian banks have raised many questions including the role of boards and whether they need to be more proactive in seeking our problems before they become a crisis.   (Allan Fells, Diane Smith-Gander and Stephen Mayne) If the nature of combat has changed, what are the expectations of the modern soldier? Lucas Grainger-Brown, winner of the 2018 Calibre Essay prize. On the 200thanniversary of the birth of Karl Marx, what do his theories offer us today?  (Bernd Ziesemer)  http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/saturdayextra/

 

 

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