Punditry..................................

From the prolific pen of WRM.......................

On state funding of political parties in Greece:
"This state-funded system combines the worst of all worlds. In a society notorious for political corruption and sclerotic government, this system is wide open for abuse by unscrupulous politicians. If the parties’ finances get desperate enough that they are forced to choose between their finances and the good of the country, things could get ugly very quickly."

On China's labor situation:
"It’s a great historical irony that Communist China’s most pressing internal danger these days is the rising militancy of an industrial working class. "

On the crushing costs of higher education:
"Costs in education, like costs in health care, are rising too fast. But the deeper problem is that the entire higher-ed system is fundamentally broken, and no amount of tinkering at the margins will fix it."

This essay references a chart from Bloomberg.  Here is that chart: