understanding politics, considerations

Looking Forward


September 29th, 2008 · Business, Economics, and Finance, Iran, Israel and the Middle East, Judaism, Religion, World Affairs

RISHON LEZION, Israel — At sun­down tonight, Jews around the world will cel­e­brate Rosh Hashanah, the Jew­ish New Year. Never before have I been so anx­ious about what the next year will bring.

In the United States, I worry that Amer­i­cans may suf­fer a severe reces­sion at best or an eco­nomic depres­sion at worst. Or per­haps the last domino has fallen in the sub-prime mort­gage deba­cle and the credit-crunch cri­sis, and no other banks or finan­cial insti­tu­tions will fail. I worry that the $700-billion bailout will move the fed­eral gov­ern­ment towards bank­ruptcy more quickly. Or maybe pur­chas­ing the bad debt will actu­ally be a net gain for tax­pay­ers in the end. I worry that the Amer­i­can peo­ple will be stu­pid enough to elect an angry, bit­ter man like Sen. John McCain — and an imbe­cile like Gov. Sarah Palin. Or maybe they will have seen the error of the last eight years under Pres­i­dent Bush and elect Sen. Barack Obama.

It can go either way.

In Israel, I worry that Tzipi Livni will not be able to form a gov­ern­ment, which will lead to new elec­tions and a vic­tory for Ben­jamin Netanyahu. Or per­haps she will for a sta­ble gov­ern­ment that does not include Shas and will move for­ward in the peace process. I worry that the cur­rent peace talks with Syria and the Pales­tini­ans will fail (again) even though most ratio­nal peo­ple on both sides know what any agree­ments must include. Or per­haps rea­son will win in the Mid­dle East for once. I worry that Iran will nuke Israel. Or maybe Israel or the United States will bomb the facil­i­ties and set them back sev­eral years, giv­ing time for a mod­er­ate gov­ern­ment to gain con­trol in Tehran.

It can go either way. L’shanah tova!

Related: Here is an inter­est­ing story about the “monothe­is­tic traf­fic jam” in Jerusalem right now.