Latest Insights
America’s decline – Israel’s trouble
President Trump says the US economy is stronger than it has ever been. And the numbers back him up. Numbers, shmumbers – America is sinking. One consequence is that Israel is in trouble.
Why does it impact Israel? It is pretty simple, actually.
The US is Israel’s strongest supporter. We have your back, the Americans constantly tell Israeli leaders. We moved our embassy to Jerusalem. But the bigger America’s internal social and economic woes, the less engaged it is in the Middle East and the world. When Israel does need someone at its back, there may be nobody there.
Snow-capped idea volcanoes
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder said “Young people are just smarter!” So, Mark, here goes. I’m going to try to convince you that those over 60 not only have clever ideas but often know far better than young whippersnappers how to implement them.
Zionism preferred villages and not cities, and the result is still felt today
Prof. Rachel Alterman talks about Zionism, the history of settlement in Israel and the cities that have been established.
Most Israelis are urbanites, but the cities – although they have always led the country economically, culturally and politically – have always held second place from the Zionist point of view. The national priorities, passion and ideology were elsewhere: land, farming, agriculture, moshav, kibbutz and rural life were considered the embodiment of Zionist vision and fulfillment. The development of the Israeli cities was deeply influenced by these priorities.
To succeed in a start-up, you have to think like artists
Is Israel really the start-up nation? If you choose the right metric, the answer is no. Israel is indeed the world leader in the number of start-ups per capita, according to the Bloomberg Index – but is this the right measure? Isn’t it more correct to check the number of successful start-ups per capita? If we measure this index, we will find that Israel is not at all leading. The rate of failures in the US, for example, is 90%; Sounds a lot, but it’s much less than Israel.
Prey, work, study Torah
In this article, Prof. Shlomo Maital discusses the integration of ultra-Orthodox society into the labor force in Israel, the historical circumstances that led to the current situation, and the various incentives that are pushing more Haredi men to join the labor force, concurrently to their torah studies
The illusion of the “National Plan 38”: Earthquake reinforcement is just an excuse for economic profits
The plan to reinforce buildings against earthquakes – National Master Plan 38 – creates an illusion of “readiness” but because it is economically feasible only in areas of high land prices, it contains an inevitable preference for better-off regions in Israel. These, it so happens, are less prone to earthquakes. In practice, NMP 38 is mainly a tool for the upgrading the value of non-substandard units through permission to add a few additional units to each building. Ostensibly, the plan “does no harm” but in fact it takes away tax revenues from less affluent areas of cities and destabilizes stable neighborhoods. To date, there is no a national program of expenditures for reinforcement according to real earthquake risks, not only for housing, but also for public buildings, roads and bridges.
Baby Boom
AN UNUSUAL Israeli reality TV series is about “one of the most intimate moments of [young couples’] lives. It’s a hospital delivery room….” I doubt there is anything like it on foreign television. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis watch the program.
There are a great many blessings that building a life and a family in Israel confers. Babies are a major one. Over the past 12 months, 177,000 babies were born in Israel. Each one is a tiny blessing.
I have traveled the world ,I was always struck by the paucity of babies and pregnant women. All of East Asia, Europe and North America are experiencing birthrates that are below replacement level, i.e. 2.1 births per woman. Even Iran and Brazil are on this list. But Israel: 3.1 births per woman! Baby boom.
Hatikva-The Real Story behind Israel’s anthem
In this article, Shlomo Maital reviews the history of the Israeli anthem Hatikvah – the history of the writing of the anthem, the history of its words and music, and other (surprising) historical connections (Herzl hated it). In addition, Maital reviews the attitude of Israeli society and the Zionist movement to this anthem, which dates back a half century before the State of Israel was founded.
Speaking truth to power
One of the key foundations of democracy is under assault, in Israel and the US. It is the ability of experts to speak truth to power and the willingness of political leaders to listen to what they say.
In the US, President Donald Trump appointed Larry Kudlow as head of his National Economic Council. Kudlow thus becomes a key architect of US economic policy. Many believe he will speak power to truth, rather than truth to power. In Israel, Finance Minister Kahlon may not reappoint Bank of Israel Governor Flug, in November, because she has dared to criticize his housing policies, by speaking truth to power.
what lies ahead in 2018?
In this paper, Prof. Shlomo Mei-Tal reviews the important statistics and trends in the Israeli economy in 2017, and the forecasts for the changes that are expected to affect the economy in 2018