In the blogosphere, we tend to focus on bad news because bad news means there is a problem to discuss. But it is important to celebrate good news, and there has been some good news of late.
We have been living with the threat of nuclear arms for so long that we sometimes take the threat for granted as though it is just part of the background of modern life. That is a mistake since a nuclear catastrophe would be so enormously destructive that even relatively small probabilities of an attack or accident should not be ignored.
It is a good thing that Obama is not ignoring the threat. It didn’t generate many headlines, but two weeks ago Obama signed an agreement with the Russians to eliminate about 30% of the nuclear arsenals possessed by both countries.
Arms-control analysts who support Obama’s determination to conclude a new START agreement say that the stated reductions are significant because they are realistic enough to receive the legislative-branch ratification required in both countries, yet ambitious enough to act as a first step toward Obama’s vision of a world eventually free of nuclear arsenals.
Although the casualty news out of Afghanistan has been grim recently, terrorism expert Peter Bergan thinks that success is achievable.
Bergan argues that the level of violence is much less than it was in Iraq, the Taliban in Afghanistan are not well financed and lack numbers sufficient to hold territory, and the U.S. as well as the Karzai government have much more popular support than the Taliban. Furthermore, Obama’s strategy decisions have been correct and the situation next door in Pakistan is showing signs of being less favorable to the Taliban. I’m a bit skeptical of military victories, but Bergan is well-informed and has done good work in the past, so if you are looking for good news this is encouraging.
On the home front, although the health care proposals coming out of Congress are vigorously opposed by the Chamber of Commerce and almost every other business trade association, WalMart has decided to support the employer mandate that will require all employers above a threshold to offer insurance. This is an important crack in the usually air tight solidarity of the business community and is a bit of good news for Obama’s attempt to overhaul the health care system.
Finally, it is a mixed blessing, but bank profits are up.
Bank of America and Citigroup yesterday became the latest megabanks to report multibillion-dollar profits in the second quarter, joining J.P. Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs. The four banks together earned $13.6 billion only half a year after they lost a combined $20.8 billion.
This is to be expected given the extraordinary subsidies they are receiving from the federal government, but at least it suggests some of the liquidity problems that have been undermining the economy may be behind us.
However, the linked article reports these banks are still not lending money.
The core business of banking — lending money to companies and consumers — remains deeply troubled. The number of borrowers defaulting on existing loans continued to rise rapidly, and the banks continued to respond by shrinking the total volume of their lending.
Even the good news is not all good.
Tags: bank profits, nuclear arms agreement, success in Afghanistan, Walmart and health care
