Current Trends In U.S. Economy  

The interesting thing about this recession is that signs of it were visible as far back as two years ago. One indication of economic malaise was an enormous credit expansion accompanied, curiously enough, by a slowing down in the rate …



Telephone … But No Visa  

READERS OF DISSENT will know Edouard Roditi as an occasional contributor on Islamic problems. Others will remember him as an American poet and critic of literature and art. Born in Paris of an American family that has resided there for …



Khrushchev And The Jews  

Les Juifs Ne Savent Pas S’Orga’niser En Collectivitd. (The Jews Do Not Know How to Organize Themselves Collectively.) So ran the headline over an interview by Nikita Khrushchev to Le Figaro, a Parisian newspaper, on April 9, 1958. Staring at …





Popular Art And Folk Art  

The commercial practices of the entertainment industry certainly constitute one of the most ominous aspects of the present cultural crisis; but really it is not so much the commercialization of artproduction which is so novel and important for contemporary interpretation; …



From Under the Lid  

Evidence of rather widespread disaffection or at least dissatisfaction among Russian writers has been frequently reported in recent years. We have heard of a number of attempts of Russian novelists, playwrights and critics to express in more or less veiled …





Labor And Industrial Policy  

The main question Mr. Rogow sets out to answer is whether the British Labor Party, when in power, was able to influence significantly the structure, psychology, and objectives of British industry. The author has selected an area for analysis in …



Notes On Socialism In The Middle East  

In no sense do these notes pretend to the blessed adjective “definitive.” They are based on impressions derived from observations, conversations, interviews, meetings, and a little reading during a six weeks’ trip in Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Israel. …





The Rise Of The Arab Fellah  

Every dawn from the minarets of the Arab World comes the call to prayer: “Come to pray, come to your self-betterment.” Of late, the second part of the call, the appeal to self-betterment, is receiving a great response. People are …



Cancer In The U.S.: An Extended Metaphor  

Cancer is the twentieth century disease. If not in scientific fact, then surely in the fear-ridden depths of our imagination, cancer seems to be the special nemesis of our age. President Eisenhower’s politically dramatic heart attack created a journalistic image …





A Bewildering Debate  

Inevitably the world is heading toward another “summit” conference. Working feverishly to redefine positions which they had assumed for propaganda purposes, diplomats prepare formulas to end the cold war which they know the other side will reject. Trying to place …



Political Causes of the Recession  

The recession has been deepening now for 7 months. Industrial production, the most sensitive indicator of the state of the economy, has dropped some 10% during this period—a sharper and swifter decline than took place in the 1949 and 1954 …