The Great Unraveling

Metaphors can be tricky things, but Manhattan's "debt clock" is as good as they come.

— The Great Unraveling

Don't assume that policy proposals make sense in terms of their stated goals.

— The Great Unraveling

Do some homework to find out what these people really want. I’m not talking about deeply hidden motives; usually the true goal is in the public domain. You just have to look at what the people said before they were trying to sell it to the broad public.

— The Great Unraveling

Don't assume that the usual rules of politics apply. [...] Why don't the usual rules apply? Because a revolutionary power, which does not regard the existing system as legitimate, doesn't feel obliged to play by the rules.

— The Great Unraveling

When you are dealing with the revolutionary power, it’s important to realize that it will make whatever argument advances that goal. So, there should be no presumption that the claims makes any sense in their own terms.

— The Great Unraveling

The raw fact is that every successful example of economic development this past century – every case of a poor nation that worked its way up to a more or less decent, or at least dramatically better, standard of living – has taken place via globalization, that is, by producing for the world market rather than trying for self-sufficiency.

— The Great Unraveling