The $700-billion rescue of the financial system is dead on arrival.

As already pointed out by the press and media commentators, there are many unresolved issues with the proposed financial bailout: how to select the assets to be purchased; their price; the structure of the proposed holding entities or funds; their administration and supervision. And not least, the likelihood that for an

 The Republican campaign got its post-convention bounce, courtesy of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. It now has a choice to make.

The "safe" alternative is to maintain the present course: have the two nominees campaign together. The benefit here is that John McCain - not a particularly charismatic candidate, partakes of Sarah Palin's aura of energy, youth and "newness", as well as of the enthusiasm

 The party conventions focused almost exclusively on the candidates, almost forgetting the platforms. In speech after speech, night after night, the perspective parties' nominees were lifted up and praised, their opponents put down. There was very little else. We are going into the final eight-week stretch with a sharp focus on personality and little substance, if any, in terms of policy.

This

The wave of criticism of Russia by western governments and the western press has become a tsunami after the Georgian affair. Yet this criticism ignores two fundamental realities.

The first is the role of the Russian people and its leaders in the liquidation of one of the most oppressive tyrannies of human history - the Soviet communist state. While there were many reasons and causes behind the

The press and air waves are full of comments about the Russian occupation of two ethnic enclaves -Abkhazia and South Ossetia - within the former Soviet republic of Georgia, now an independent state. The vast majority of opinions expressed are virulently anti-Russian. Regardless of where "right" and "wrong" lie here - and it is best to let history decide that issue - the Georgian imbroglio offers

 The Republican minority in the House is in revolt. They are occupying the House chamber and intend to stay put until Speaker Pelosi calls a special session and a vote on the ban on offshore drilling.

It is a good political ploy, since all us citizens are suffering from the high gas prices. But the real issue is whether lifting the ban on drilling will send the price down.

There is really no good

 Barack Obama's trip abroad is one whale of a marketing job.

To say he is getting presidential treatment from the TV networks is an understatement. Few presidents get such a boost (for free, please note) and that only after some outstanding achievement, like winning a war. But the honors to Barack from the media are not just presidential. There is a whiff of the imperial, of what used to be

 As outlined earlier, the price of oil is high and rising because world demand is outrunning supply, and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future. There are many reasons for this, but one rules over all others: China. As long as the achievement of 10% economic growth per year remains the primary policy of the Chinese government, China will sweep world markets clean of every spare barrel

 In the last two postings we have looked at the oil supply situation and come to two conclusions. First, that demand (due to accelerated global growth) has been growing faster than supply, creating a shortage situation with the consequent rise in prices. Second, that due to the shift in the ownership and control of reserves from private corporations to governments, this situation is likely to

 In the previous posting we have looked at the oil supply to demand as the main cause of the current price rise. In a standard situation, when demand for a commodity exceeds supply, the normal reaction is for supply to increase. Since there is still plenty of oil to be pumped out and certainly a large amount yet to be discovered, the current price spike, in normal circumstances, should not last.