[PEN-L:11031] The Challenge

["Max B. Sawicky" <maxsaw@xxxxxxxxx>]

Colleagues,

Thanks to those who have responded to my PEN-L/PKT
challenge.  I'll be off-list for a week but keep at it.  I'm
going to collect the posts and distribute them at EPI,
organize a little discussion here, then give you our
considered reactions.  Prizes will be awarded, and
please, no wagering.

Regarding Gelles' note that I had not cross-posted
anything from PEN-L to PKT, it should be said that
only one person on PEN-L has seen fit to play, the
notable Mr. McDonough.  Evidently some radical analysis
can rise to the point of sophistication where you talk
yourself out of politics -- even hypotheticals -- altogether.

In the latter vein, let me make a brief qualifying point
in reaction to Paul Davidson's remark that my framing
of the question preempted plausible remedies.  Since
the idea here is to be elicit truly useful comments
(what a concept), and all the reactions have been in
my view, the constraints implied by a deflationary
international environment need not be taken as inviolate.
What's called for in that light is not a simple 'assume a
ladder' discussion, but some glimpse of how political,
diplomatic, and economic initiatives by the French
and others could address the constraints.  Political
mobilization in that context is one relevant factor.
In other words, if you can tell a story about how the "Maastricht
regime" can be modified or replaced with something better,
that's grist for the mill.

Cheers,

Max Sawicky


===================================================
Max B. Sawicky            Economic Policy Institute
maxsaw@xxxxxxxxx          1660 L Street, NW
202-775-8810 (voice)      Ste. 1200
202-775-0819 (fax)        Washington, DC  20036

===================================================