The human "gattling metaphor gun"

From an interview (really):

"And so I’ve kind of developed an answer that to me India and China are both two six-lane superhighways. And everyone’s going really fast.

Now China’s a six-lane superhighway — perfectly paved roads, perfect sidewalks, streetlamps on a lot of these highways. Just one problem. Off in the distance there’s a speed bump called political reform. And when 1.3 billion people going 80 miles an hour hit a speed bump, one of two things happens: your car jumps up in the air, slams down, everyone says, You O.K.? You O.K.? I’m O.K., drives on; the other thing that happens, car jumps up in the air, slams down and all the wheels fall off. And what will happen in China’s case? I have no idea. All I know is I’m rooting for the first scenario.

Now India’s also a six-lane superhighway — cracked cement, half the sidewalks aren’t finished and three-quarters of the streetlights don’t work. But off in the distance it looks like it smoothes out into a perfect six-lane superhighway. "

KOPPEL. Because?

FRIEDMAN. The question with India: Is that a mirage or is that the oasis? So those are the two big questions I have —

Particular gems in bold. The interview is also with Joe Stiglitz, whom Friedman (rightly) interrupts a number of times to deliver a flat smackdown. More to follow from this treasure trove of Friedmanisms.

The mustache has spoken

From the oracle's latest polished gems of wisdom:

America is surely the only nation that could — in the same decade — go to war against a president named Hussein (Saddam of Iraq), threaten to use force against a country whose most revered religious martyr is named Hussein (Iran) and then elect its own president who’s middle-named Hussein.

Is this a great country or what?

Or nothing, the mustache has spoken: America is a great country indeed. And it is surely only the counterintuitive wisdom and apparent non sequiturs of the Friedmeister that demonstrate this to ordinary folks like us.

Friedman shows familiarity with Alasdair Macintyre

"The first rule of holes is when you’re in one, stop digging. When you’re in three, bring a lot of shovels"

(Imbalances of Power, May 2008)

Questions for Friedmanites: is the shovel preferable to a (i) hatchet, and (ii) scalpel? And are the number of shovels a linear function of the number of holes one finds oneself in?

The origins of the mustache: Episode I: "He who wears it understands"