5/5/2023

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            The stabber has been apprehended so now the people of Davis can go back to normal. I am left wondering how we might have done a better job to address the suffering of the perpetrator to prevent this from happening. How do we help tormented souls?

            On a lighter note, are you doing anything for Cinco de Mayo this year? We’ll be enjoying some guacamole since avocados are on sale, but that’s about it. As I recall, last year you hosted Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller, wife of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in the Rose Garden. The only thing on your calendar for today is a meeting with your Invest in America Cabinet. Perhaps you’ll enjoy some nachos afterward.

            I’m not so sure about this America 1st thing. As Fareed Zakaria (FZ) opines when the government incentivizes certain investments, “companies focus on lobbying the government rather than responding to the market, subsidies once in place become eternal, & innovation slows down.” FZ points out that we were all afraid of the economic transcendence of Japan in 1990, but then they did the kind of thing that you are advocating & now they are sputtering.

Keep the markets as open as possible. Trade makes the world a safer, more prosperous place.

            As you evaluate how to make the world a safer place, please consider recalculating the strength of the Sit-Tat in Burma. According to Ye Myo Hein (YMH), a visiting scholar at the U.S. Institute of Peace, the number of combatants in the Sit-Tat is way over estimated. He writes, “the international community should stop engaging with the junta as if it is bound to win & the only relevant player in achieving stability. That approach only bolsters the generals’ delusion that they will defeat the opposition & delays the time until the junta comes to the table.” YMH has got lots of #s to show that the generals don’t have people power. Please consult with him so you can better understand the situation.

            BYBS,