USA: a mostly planned economy?

I don't mean the government, I mean firms. Lots of people have pointed out that firms are like little command economies, but let's look at the scale. The US is near the bottom of the OECD in self-employment and small business employment (at least in manufacturing and computing sectors) and going down in self-employment with time, with 7.2% of workers being self-employed, vs. over 30% for Greece, Mexico, or South Korea. 11% of manufacturing is done by firms with less than 20 employees, vs. 35% in Greece. 32% of computer services are in firms of less than 100 employees, vs. 73% in Italy.

So most Americans not only work for bosses, they probably work for bosses who have bosses, some variation on "assistant manager" or "middle manager". Most people do not sell goods or services directly in competitive markets, they seek out and form long term exclusive relationships where they get paid a fixed salary or wage in return for taking commands. There's market activity *between* firms, but overall, most economic activity is happening within large firms, via boss-employee relationships. If you believe the US economy is a sterling example, you should believe that market activity is best minimized, or at least sequestered to particular niches. Overall we're a market economy the way we're a democracy, infrequently and indirectly.

It's worth noting that the countries highest in self-employment and small business manufacturing are the poor cousins of the developed world, while powerhouses like Germany and Japan are also fairly low (though Japan's higher in small manufacturing.) So maybe there is in fact something to this, that large degrees of planning and command economy are more efficient than relentless market competition. Though for the USA there's also that working for a large employer has been the only reliable way to get decent health insurance, and you've been gambling on your health and solvency by going it alone.

I note that in my semi-extended family, one niece started her own business, and I think one sister is being a therapist on her own. I did a bit of consulting work in the tail of dot-com boom. Otherwise, we've all worked for businesses, universities, or government.

Who will the US bomb after 2016?

I forget where I read it, maybe in History Lessons, but someone made the point that from a foreign perspective, the US almost always bombs or invades someone, no matter who the President it. Democratic or Republican, bombs will fall, missiles will fly, boots may go on the ground. The smart money is not "will the US attack" but "when and who?" Sure, from the American POV we've got reasons or excuses for each one, or at least the ones we agree with, but from outside? Dogs have to bark, cows have to moo, and the USA has to attack someone. I think peace activists challenged the world to imagine a world without war; a simpler challenge might be to imagine that the USA could go 8 years without attacking anyone.

What if we'd gone back to isolationism after WWII? No wait, that's a false premise, the US was never isolationist. The public might have been isolationist relative to Europe, but we were occupying the Philippines and still bullying Latin America. But what if we had been fairly isolationist? Say, not moving troops outside our own borders or those of genuinely democratic allies?

No Korean War, which would suck for South Korea. No Vietnam War, which would be a pure win for the people of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia -- possibly no Khmer Rouge, as US bombing destabilized Cambodia in the first place. No Marines to get killed in Beirut. No invasion of Grenada. No Gulf War, which would suck for Kuwait. No NATO intervention in Bosnia/Kosovo. No long slog in Afghanistan, no attack on Iraq and Libya. If we extend this to not meddling, possibly no overthrow of Mossadegh in Iran (and support for the Shah, and Iran hating us now), no overthrow of Allende in Chile, no support for the Contra terrorists against the Sandanistas. Also no spanking of the UK-France-Israel alliance over the Suez Canal. No Cuban Missile Crisis. No Bay of Pigs. No invasion of Panama to 'arrest' their head of state. No ongoing drone strikes in Yemen. No destruction of a pharmaceutical factory in Somalia.

If we allow for UN Security Council-approved actions, that ushers in the Korean War, Gulf War, and Bosnian War (but not the 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia), arguably the best of the set... also those Marines in Beirut, and the Libya strikes, though it's said we went beyond the UN mandate (from protecting the rebels to acting as their air force.) List of UNSC actions.

List of post-1945 actions.

1947 - Greece. U.S. Marines land in Athens and assist in the re-establishment of monarchy and the arrest of Greek Communists.
1965 – Invasion of Dominican Republic. Operation Power Pack. The United States intervened to protect lives and property during a Dominican revolt and sent 20,000 U.S. troops as fears grew that the revolutionary forces were coming increasingly under Communist control.[RL30172] A popular rebellion breaks out, promising to reinstall Juan Bosch as the country's elected leader. The revolution is crushed when U.S. Marines land to uphold the military regime by force. The CIA directs everything behind the scenes.
1983 – Grenada. Operation Urgent Fury. Citing the increased threat of Soviet and Cuban influence and noting the development of an international airport following a coup d'état and alignment with the Soviets and Cuba, the U.S. invades the island nation of Grenada.[RL30172]

Namibian surprise

Back in grad school I met someone (white) who was from Namibia, which was exotic and novel to me; I didn't have much awareness of it as a country, vs. a province in South Africa or something. This despite the geography section of Academic Decathlon. Anyway, years later I got around to reading Wikipedia on the country.

* Became independent in 1990. - Odd, I grew up watching the MacNeil Lehrer NewsHour over dinner, you'd think they'd have mentioned this. Maybe they did and I don't remember. Maybe they mentioned it in one news summary I was late for and never again.
* ...after a war for independence from South Africa. - Okay, I'd think even more this would have been mentioned. I remember MLNH or 60 Minutes stories on South Africa, Angola (Joe Slovo!), and Lesotho. I suppose not Zambia or Zimbabwe. Still, I have one of those "did I slip into an alternate universe?" feelings.
* It has 2 million people in an area larger than France and Germany combined; loses out to Mongolia for the coveted title of least densely populated country - I suppose if Greenland ever became fully independent it would take that title. Also I have a new candidate to taunt space cadets with, about how if they want to settle a hostile frontier why don't they go to X. Namibia would have a better solar budget than Mongolia or the Yukon... or Mars. Anyway, low population could help explain staying out of the news.
* Country has the least rainfall of sub-Saharan Africa. Not a surprise from satellite views; the only competitors would be Somalia and Botswana.
* It seems to have been peaceful and stable since 1990, with regular elections, though SWAPO like the ANC has yet to lose an election and thus be tested in giving up power. - Also explains not making the news.
* GDP/capita of $8000 PPP. Not bad! But Gini of 60, and whites own most of the arable land, and there's mineral wealth... I suspect it's like South Africa: whites live like Americans, blacks live like subsistence farmers.
* The revolutionary government made English the official language, despite most blacks speaking a Bantu tongue and most whites speaking German or Afrikaans.

* Ooh, German... did I know Germany had had an African colony? I can't remember. Anyway, they had this one from 1884. And what did they do with it?

'From 1904 to 1907, the Herero and the Namaqua took up arms against the Germans and in the subsequent Herero and Namaqua genocide, 10,000 Nama (half their population) and approximately 65,000 Hereros (about 80% of their population) were killed.[12][13] The survivors, when finally released from detention, were subjected to a policy of dispossession, deportation, forced labour, racial segregation and discrimination in a system that in many ways anticipated apartheid. Most Africans were confined to so-called native territories, which later under South African rule post-1949 were turned into "homelands" (Bantustans)'

Killing males outright, driving women and children into the desert to die of thirst, creating death camps, performing "medical experiments". From the genocide page:

'According to Benjamin Madley, the German experience in South West Africa was a crucial precursor to Nazi colonialism and genocide. He argues that personal connections, literature, and public debates served as conduits for communicating colonialist and genocidal ideas and methods from the colony to Germany.[104] Tony Barta, honorary research associate[clarification needed] at La Trobe University Melbourne, argues that the Herero Genocide was an inspiration for Hitler in his war against the Jews.[105]

According to Clarence Lusane, Eugen Fischer's medical experiments can be seen as a testing ground for later medical procedures used during the Nazi Holocaust.[69] Fischer later became chancellor of the University of Berlin, where he taught medicine to Nazi physicians.[78] One of his prominent students was Josef Mengele, the doctor who performed genetic experiments on Jewish children at the Auschwitz concentration camp.[106] Ben Kiernan, the director of the Genocide Studies Programme at Yale University, pointed out that Eugen Fischer was not the only person who took part in both genocides. Franz Ritter von Epp, who was later responsible for the liquidation of all Bavarian Jews and Roma[dubious – discuss] as governor of Bavaria, took part in the Herero genocide as well.[107]'

Germany has apologized for the genocide, but ruled out reparations, though it gives $14 million/year in foreign aid, which comes out to a whopping $7/person-year. Really making an effort there, guys.

* Countries that materially supported Namibia in its struggle against apartheid South Africa: Cuba, Libya. Especially Cuba.