CITYECONOMIST | June 2, 2015–170K Pageviews; Most Popular

Thank you for reading and have a good month.

The CityEconomist Blog reached 170,000 Page Views today, June 2. That's 10,000 Page Views in five weeks, or 2,000 per week.

I appreciate your clicking on this blogsite.

The most-viewed posts in the last month, in order of number of Page Views are:

FDR's Election in 1932 and His Cabinet (Edited...

May 22, 2015

Treasury Secretary Woodin's Tragic Last Months...

May 5, 2015

Is Uber Creating More Congestion in New York City?...

May 18, 2015

Shifts in GOP Strength, 1928-2012

May 21, 2015

Not the Copyright Law's Finest Hour, 1939

May 11, 2015

HOW HOLLAND DEFIED HITLER - Book Outline (Updated ...

Jan 26, 2015

What Is Money?

May 30, 2015

Armed Resistance to the Nazis: Jan Canada, Jank...

Jan 29, 2015

Publishing-Industry Economics - The EDC vs. Amazon...

May 29, 2015

Job Numbers Better, But Mind What's Going on Backs...

May 8, 2015

Tweet

Poll: McCain Is Losing Because of the Economy

2 a.m. EST: An AOL poll shows a majority of more than 200,000 respondents saying that John McCain can still win on November 4, eight days from now. The poll asks: "What should a McCain comeback strategy focus on most?" Of the 160,000 respondents, 54 percent believe that he should focus on economic solutions. Only 20 percent say McCain should focus on his experience, only 18 percent say he can succeed by attacking Obama. (Only 8 percent say there is some other formula for a McCain victory.)

Comment: As forecasts of a deep global recession grow and some sober economists (like Harvard Professor Greg Mankiw in Saturday's But Have We Learned Enough?) say an economic downturn rivaling the Great Depression can't be ruled out. McCain needed to position himself as a leader offering different economic solutions from the Bush Administration. The AOL poll suggests that McCain's inability to cobble together such a plan is Obama's greatest strength. If he is so experienced, the electorate seems to be asking, why isn't McCain able to explain what he would do differently from George W. Bush about the economy?

6 a.m. EST: More than 183,000 responses. Economic solutions, 54 percent. McCain's experience, 19 percent. Attacking Obama, 18 percent. Other, 9 percent.

KENYA | Irony of Obama's Win While Kenya Is in Turmoil

On the same day that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in his victory speech after the Iowa Democratic Caucus describes himself as having a "father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas" and seeks to use his campaign to unify the United States, the news is full of widespread unrest in Kenya. Photos of burning vehicles and buildings are tied to a rushed declaration by the incumbent president, Mwai Kibaki, a Kikuyu tribesman, that he had been reelected over Luo challenger Raila Odinga, despite signs of election irregularities.

The resentment that flared up over the election dates back to expectations at the time of Kenya's independence in 1963.  Kikuyu tribesman and Mau Mau independence movement leader Jomo Kenyatta, respected as the father of independent Kenya, was named head of the Kenya African National Union with the support of Oginga Odinga (father of Raila Odinga), a leader of the mostly Christian Luo tribe, one of the three largest in Kenya. It was widely anticipated that respected Luo trade union leader Tom Mboya would succeed Kenyatta. Unfortunately, Mboya was assassinated in 1969.

This week’s Kenya election was a contest between Kibaki and Odinga, who–in an echo of the role of his father in supporting Kenyatta–again played a part in Kenya's 2002 presidential election, by throwing the support of his Liberal Democratic Party behind Kibaki.