Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

More drilling analysis – Menzie Chinn

Lifted from Econbrowser by Menzie Chinn Drilling Offshore to Affect World Oil Prices… and Other Tales from the Iraq-Pakistan Border Various individuals have argued for drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) as a means to affect the price of oil. This is true despite this recent assessment by the Department of Energy’s Energy Information […]

CBO: Updated Long-Term Projections for Social Security

Updated Long-Term Projections for Social Security Andrew Biggs in Treatment of uncertainty in new CBO Social Security projections directs our attention to the new release from the Congressional Budget Office. I don’t tend to focus on CBO projections precisely because they are more optimistic than the Trustees’, I don’t want to open the door to […]

The US economy is in a funk

The US economy is in a funkBy Peter Morici Troubles at United States banks are making mortgage, credit card and business loans scarcer and more expensive. Falling home prices, rising foreclosures and high gas prices have stalled home building and consumer spending. These problems are exacerbated by the long-festering trade deficits on oil and with […]

Obama and the Economy

NYT Magazine Preview: How Obama Reconciles Dueling Views on Economy This Sunday’s New York Times has a very good article on Obama by David Leonhardt.

Polling Margins: The Myth of "Double-Digits"

There is a strange meme in the blogsphere—most recently made in comments here by Movie Guy—that Obama “should have a double-digit lead over McCain at this stage as has been the case with previous presidential primaries.” So I went searching for double-digit leads among two-person Presidential races in the past several elections. August 2004 (Bush […]

Angry Bear Center for School Teachers

by rdan In a spirit of cooperation, I have lifted this post from Tim Schilling (economist and Asst. Dir. Powell Institute) blog MV=PQ. It is geared for a lesson plan and material for a high school economic class (gr. 12). Please comment with that in mind. Of course any of this is used in history, […]

Andrew Samwick ponders The Ancestral Party

“On days like this, I wonder if I’m still a Republican.“ I gave up on the Party long ago; I gave up hope when a (very) distant relative wrote an op-ed for the NYT on why he would not support impeachment in 1998, and was attacked by the party for the next few years, before […]

Tax rates, growth, and tax revenues

by cactus Together with a co-author, I’ve been working on a book looking at how a number of series – everything from economic growth to abortion rates – have evolved over the length of each administration beginning with Ike. The process is starting to move, we’ve gotten ourselves an agent, and we hope to have […]

Voterwatch.org wants you to participate in presidential debate

I have an interesting opportunity for you guys at Angry Bear! Firstoff, thank you for your continued support of Facing Up to the Nation’sFinances. Now, however, I am writing about the presidential debates.Please read the letter below and let me know if you’re interested: Hello, my name is Billy Hallowell and I am the director […]