Less Heroic Policing, Please

One thing the shootings of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, both unarmed black teenagers, reveal is that there may be too much of a fixation on heroics in policing.  George Zimmerman, a policeman wannabe working as a community watch person, pursued Trayvon even after a police dispatcher instructed him not to follow the young man.  Trayvon, whose suspect activities consisted of carrying junk food while black and wearing a hoodie, evidently became unnerved by Zimmerman and an altercation ensued.  Because the victim was dead and therefore not available as a witness, the evidentiary record assembled by the State of Florida wasn't as fulsome as would be ideal, and Zimmerman was acquited.  But if Zimmerman had simply obeyed orders and let a uniformed officer handle the situation, in all likelihood nothing would have happened.

Perhaps the most critical moment in the Michael Brown shooting was Darren Wilson's decision to get out of his police cruiser and pursue Brown alone.  Even though backup was less than two minutes away, Wilson evidently couldn't wait for reinforcements.  It's standard police procedure to take on violent suspects with overwhelming force (which means several officers).  An officer shouldn't go one-on-one with a suspect who is much larger and stronger than the officer.  Wilson's decision to go it alone is mystifying.  He had already been hit hard a couple of times by Brown, and injured to the point where he evidently convinced the grand jury that he reasonably feared for his life.  If Brown was that dangerous, why was Wilson taking him on alone?  Given the disparity in their sizes, and the fact that Wilson was already injured, his only ability to control Brown, it would seem, was with his .40 cal. pistol.  And that turned out to be the case. 

Before the Michael Brown shooting, Darren Wilson was commended by the Ferguson, MO police department for physically subduing a drug suspect.  Physical courage and dominance, it would seem, were honored.  But the police aren't fighting wars.  Valor is something that is usually not needed in policing.  Good judgment, self-control, and non-violent outcomes should be, and for most police officers are, higher priorities.  When Darren Wilson first spotted Michael Brown, the worst things Brown apparently had done were steal some cigars and walk down the middle of the street.  This is not a situation that should have escalated into a shooting.  When it did, and Brown was shot and ran, Wilson should not have pursued him alone.  Not when the outcome of that solitary pursuit might well depend on the use of his pistol.

The grand jury decided that Darren Wilson did not act unlawfully.  But just because something's legal doesn't make it good or desirable.  Heroics in policing are sometimes called for.  But, by all indications, we need a lot less heroism and much more sound judgment. 

Uber Shows Us Why Privacy Matters

It appears that a senior vice president at Uber, the online taxi service, suggested that the company ought to investigate journalists who offend the company.  In particular, Emil Michael, the SVP in question, seems to have directed his remarks at a BuzzFeed reporter named Sarah Lacy, who evidently has been critical of the company. 

Although Uber has repudiated Michael's remarks and pledged not to investigate journalists, let's think hypothetically about what a nasty corporation might do in order to dig up dirt on an individual.  There is the company's own database.  In the case of an online taxi service, that would include name, credit card information, and perhaps a lot of addresses.  Some you might not want your significant other to know about if you've been less than a paragon of fidelity.  Others you might not want your employer to know about if you've been interviewing discreetly for a new job.  Of course, there could be the address of the only abortion clinic in your city or a seedy hotel where the only things you could get are services from sex workers or illegal drugs. 

In addition, businesses corporations have access to commercial databases created by shadowy companies that vacuum up everything about you they can find on the Internet and sell it for a fee.  These databases might well include archived pages from social networking and other sites that you thought you deleted years ago (shiploads of stuff on the Internet have been archived, and a deletion on the active website doesn't necessarily mean all the archived stuff is gone).  Businesses can also hire snoops to snoop around online and otherwise.  They can get the name of the driver from the online taxi service, interview him, and find out that you were getting mighty friendly with someone in the back seat when you told your spouse you were going alone to a client dinner.  Or they can find out the name of the restaurant where you were taken, and interview the bartender to learn there was someone waiting for you who whisked you away after spending five minutes at the bar. 

No one is perfect.  For many, their imperfections can be uncovered online or through information available online.  Private interests can be bad.  Some can be evil.  There are fewer legal constraints on private interests digging up dirt online than there are on the government.  It's creepy to think that NSA or some other government agency might be sneaking peaks at our e-mail accounts.  But, ultimately, the government is subject to a variety of constraints that, at least sometimes, can be invoked.  A business corporation or other private interest that wants to do evil is much harder to rein in because of the paucity of rules.

Privacy laws are like locks on doors.  You lock your doors to keep undesired people out of the privacy of your home.  Privacy rules keep undesired people out of the privacy of your data.  Everyone wants a nonpublic place where they aren't subject to prying eyes.  Even the Uber SVP, Emil Michael, who reportedly claims that his inflammatory remarks were meant to be off the record.  (See http://www.cnbc.com/id/102199538). From the vantage point of his petard, Michael acknowledges the desirability of privacy.

It's unlikely Congress will do anything useful in the foreseeable future.  But if it wanted to shock us with a pleasant surprise, it could enact a strong set of privacy rules for online data and the use of online data.  After all, privacy matters.

Economic Consequences of the Mid-Term Elections

The economic consequences of yesterday's mid-term elections will be zero.  In order to boost the economy, the federal government would have to raise taxes, cut spending or both.  Even though President Obama now faces a majority Republican Senate as well as House, he won't agree to major tax cuts and the Republicans won't agree to major increases in spending.  So the fiscal impact of the mid-term elections will be effectively zero.  With the federal deficit lower than the historical average of 3% of GDP, there's room for fiscal stimulus but no political impetus for it.

Modest spending boosts may come from an increased military role for the U.S. in the Middle East.  Trying to suppress ISIS is becoming a game of whack-a-mole.  And American air power may have to target an al-Qaeda affiliate called the al Nusra front as well.  But such mission creep will be constrained as there is no public support for a resumption of ground warfare by U.S. troops.  The defense budget won't provide major stimulus.

Monetary policy is the only real game in town, and central bankers are the croupiers.  The Fed has just ended quantitative easing in the face of 3% plus growth by the economy, but there's nothing that stands in its way if it wants to fire up the monetary printing press again.  Just the push of a few computer keys, and the QE program is up and running again.  The Japanese central bank has recently placed a lot of QE chips on the table, putting a punch bowl on the table even as the Fed takes one away. 

The newly empowered Republicans in the Senate will probably increase pressure on the Fed to step back from accommodation.  That would be a fool's errand, as there is nothing the Republicans could actually do over the next two years to substitute for the loss of Fed accommodation.  If Republican pressure on the Fed slows the economy to stall speed, look for smashing Democratic victories in the 2016 Presidential and Congressional elections.

Has the Supreme Court Entrenched the Two Parties?

The upcoming mid-term elections, in which Republican gains are strongly anticipated, are much more about anger than beliefs.  Voters are inclined to throw the bums out (which in some cases may mean Republicans instead of Democrats).  They are anti-incumbent and only incidentally sometimes in favor of the challenger. 

This would seem the ideal environment to launch a third political party.  The Republicans and Democrats have become increasingly insular--from each other, and especially from the middle of the electorate.  The strong showing by Independent Greg Orman in the Kansas senatorial race illustrates the willingness of voters to consider candidates from outside the box. 

But Orman, if he wins, will caucus with one party or the other.  He isn't looking to lead the charge for a third party.  Big Republican Money is flowing into campaign coffers to inflame voter anger.  Big Democratic Money is flowing in riposte.  Any attempt to create a third party would be crushed by these financial woolly mammoths. 

The Supreme Court in recent years has struck down various limits on campaign contributions, opening the way for large contributors to throw their weight around.  Even though voters may be increasingly ready for a choice other than Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, few with deep pockets would be willing to fund a third party.  The existing parties, with their gerrymandered incumbents and established infrastructure, enjoy exacerbated advantages from the Supreme Court's antipathy toward restrictions on campaign contributions.  Regardless of the mood of the electorate, the chances for a third party to take root shrink as funding for the Republicans and Democrats increases.

There are political insurgencies.  But they take place within the established parties.  The Tea Party and its sympathizers have swung the Republican Party away from its traditional power brokers.  And the election of a black man to the White House came from the most successful political insurgency in over 40 years.  But, if you're hoping to see colors other than red and blue on political maps, you'll be waiting a long time, thanks in no small part to the Supreme Court.