Having heard Senator Sander’s discussion on the floor, I thought the outing of the republican vision for this nation in total should be preserved on the net in writing.  People hear bits and piece but never put the entire picture together.   Maybe reading the list will help people picture the finished house the conservative mind […]

Guest post by Kenneth Thomas of Middle Class Political Economist U.S. has 18th best unemployment benefits in OECD; also trails 13 non-OECD countries Tim Vlandas at EU Welfare States flags some important recent International Monetary Fund data on the generosity of a number of countries’ unemployment benefits. The metric used is the gross replacement rate […]

This article in the New York Times (Even critics of the Safety Net) presents a gentle desription of some voter feelings about the political and economic ‘issues’ of this economy and election. I have a lot of different feelings about the description of people interviewed. The current media surrounding the election campaigning does not allow […]

Bruce has made this point repeatedly. Dr. Black puts it in more direct language: [I]nevitably the Social Security Trustees will, perfectly justifiably, tweak a few assumptions about future economic activity so that there will be a DOOM scenario, an EVERYTHING’S AWESOME scenario, and a “uh oh maybe in about 40 years we will have a […]

I try not to pay attention—and not provide a direct link—to the NYT’s Stupidest Conservative. It’s one of the greatest advantages of having Susan of Texas around: you can go there and see anything I might write, done better, and (in this case) with cute graphics. But when Brad DeLong falls down on the job—dealing […]

Health and Economic Development Primer in one easy lesson (via SocProf’s Twitter feed): This is not surprising to see the contrast between the prosperous (at least until now) areas, in green where chronic illnesses prevail but are diseases tied to aging, as opposed to the semi-periphery and periphery where infectious / parasitic diseases are prevalent […]

After the first round, I was convinced that Microsoft’s songsmith was at best, a way to produce mash-ups for the tonally impaired. Kieran Healy has convinced me otherwise, with this piece: capitalism in action, set to music: I believe this is what we meant when we talked about “creative destruction,” back in the days when […]

Those of you who want to argue that something being “just symbolism” are invited to consider the fate of “Aid to Families with Dependent Children.” AFDC is clear and precise. It tells us that we are helping a specific set of people: Families with Dependent Children. Not just the father and the mother, but the […]