Word: testing
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...everyone agrees with this upbeat assessment, of course, and the debate about the extent to which the world has decoupled from the U.S. rages on. Critically, many forecasts for the U.S. predict weaker growth in 2007 but not the ultimate test of full-blown recession. Indeed, judging by some of the latest data that shows rising U.S. wages and exports, the worst may already be over. The International Monetary Fund recently increased its prediction for global GDP growth in 2007 to 4.9% from 4.7%. If that turns out to be correct, this year will be the fourth...
Thirty-seven men have been elected President since 1789, and the American people have applied two different standards in evaluating their achievements. The first was formulated by Alexander Hamilton, who test-drove the presidency in the Federalist papers. The difficulty of winning the job, he argued, virtually guaranteed it would be held by the best men. "Talents for low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity," could "elevate a man to the first honors in a single state." But only "characters pre-eminent for ability and virtue" could impress the nation as a whole. The first seven Presidents, who filled...
...calmness," "gentleness" and "discretion," though not his "profound dissimulation" and "fawning servility." Van Buren was a pol, first, last and always. He showed that intrigue and the art of popularity were now enough to win the White House. Since 1841, most successful presidential candidates have passed the Van Buren test. The electorate wants leaders who have played the game, even if they haven't been All-Stars. It's a low but sensible hurdle; Obama qualifies by that standard...
Voters also don't take kindly to nonpoliticians: two businessmen, Wendell Willkie and Ross Perot, made serious runs for the White House, although neither came close. Americans will elect a political neophyte only if he passes the Hamilton test of pre-eminent ability. Ulysses S. Grant and Dwight Eisenhower had never held elective office, but they won their wars. Some Presidents pass both tests: Theodore Roosevelt fought well in the Spanish-American War and in New York State politics. Among the prospective 2008 candidates, only one has shown pre-eminent ability: Rudy Giuliani, in solving the crime problem...
...trouble with this hypothesis is that it declares its own untestability at the outset. There is nothing Steve could do or say under any circumstances that would provide the slightest grounds for either dismissing or confirming the reality of his experience. There could not be an objective test that distinguished a clever robot from a really conscious person...