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Donsutherland1

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donsutherland1

DP Veteran
Joined
Oct 17, 2007
Messages
11,862
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Location
New York
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Centrist
Short Biographical Sketch:
I was born in New York and have lived in New York, Washington, and Montreal. I possess an MBA in finance and have worked in both the private and public sectors. My professional experience includes a stint in Washington in which I dealt with trade/economic policy issues and some foreign relations matters.

Philosophical/Policy Perspectives:
In general, I always seek to learn new things and strive to maintain an open-minded position to listening to ideas and viewpoints. Reliance on facts and objectivity are important in my forming my opinions.

In terms of domestic social policy, I fall near the political center. I believe one should always err toward tolerance in human relations. Therefore, I believe that one's capacity to bring peoples of diverse backgrounds and experiences together toward a common cause is a better measure of strong leadership than one's achieving gains for narrower interests simply from exploiting differences among peoples. In my view, policies that promote world-class education (access and curricula) and scientific research are essential to a nation's ability to sustain progress that is key to advancing its standard of living.

With respect to economic policy, I am firmly committed to free market-based policies and accordingly favor trade liberalization, prudent regulation, low taxes on business activity, and a relatively open immigration policy. In a highly demanding global economy, I believe that it does not make much sense to impose artificial barriers that could undermine incentives for entrepreneurship or innovation, stifle the ability of businesses to develop and sustain strong competitive advantages, or breed labor shortages in critical areas through an unnecessarily stringent immigration policy. In my view, it is no accident of history that West Germany and South Korea excelled where East Germany and North Korea did not, despite the commonality of the cultures and historical experience of the two Germanys and Koreas. In terms of monetary policy, I believe that a central bank's fulfilling its commitment to price stability is of paramount importance if any nation is to achieve sustained and robust economic growth over the long-term.

In terms of foreign policy, I am a pragmatic Realist who places great weight on the importance of sustaining and strengthening the United States' major alliances, e.g., NATO, standing fast with key allies e.g., Israel, and maintaining cooperative and effective relations with the world's great powers/emergent powers. I believe that the balance of power considerations and deterrence play essential roles in helping promote international peace and security. I also believe that it makes sense for the U.S. to leverage the full range of its foreign policy tools (diplomacy, foreign aid, technical assistance, relationships, and, when necessary, military power) for advancing and safeguarding its critical interests and allies.

As for my overall, outlook, it is relatively optimistic. I fully realize that given how remarkably unchanging human nature has been and the historical experience being what it is, there will be challenges that confront nations and peoples (war, hostility, harmful rivalry, etc.). However, I also believe that so long as nations and their peoples retain the desire and capacity to advance knowledge, push scientific frontiers, and cooperate to pursue common interests, overall human progress over the longer-term will surpass the losses stemming from temporary setbacks that occur along the way.

--Don​
 
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