This is the title of a story from Reuters story reported here: WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. household wealth swelled to a new record in the second quarter of 2004, while borrowing outside the financial sector grew at a slower pace, the Federal Reserve said on Thursday. In its quarterly Flow of Funds report, the Fed […]

While fellow free trader Daniel Drezner says he’s leaning towards Kerry (and has zero probability of voting for Alan Keyes), his latest blog notes a couple of places where Jadesh Bhagwati has expressed concern about John Kerry’s rhetoric on trade and outsourcing. Dan asks the following question of Kerry supporters who also are for free […]

U.S. intelligence pessimistic on Iraq future From this MSNBC story: Estimate contrasts Bush statements, says civil war possible WASHINGTON – A highly classified National Intelligence Estimate assembled by some of the government’s most senior analysts this summer provided a pessimistic assessment about the future security and stability of Iraq. The National Intelligence Council looked at […]

The BLS released its estimates of consumer prices in August. They rose 0.1% in August, as did prices excluding food and energy. Somewhat worryingly, inflation seems to be falling from its already low levels. As I explained in this post last month, this is probably an indicator of weak demand. The 12-month change in prices […]

And in more Florida news, the court battles over the election there are already in full swing. The Miami Herald reports: The Florida Supreme Court snatched the ball Wednesday from the partisan players fighting over Ralph Nader’s status on Florida’s presidential ballot, ordering elections officials not to send out absentee ballots until the justices rule […]

I’ll say it again. Wow. This is swath that Ivan has cut so far: And this is what Gulf coast residents faced overnight: Kash

In case anyone is wondering, I’m still around; I’ve just been really busy. Unfortunately, this isn’t likely to change any time soon. On the plus side, it looks like Kash and PGL are keeping the A material coming. AB

Tom DeLay’s idea of fiscal responsibility is to put the IRS out of business. From a Tax Analyst report: While the White House on September 14 expressed concern over weak IRS funding in the House’s Treasury/Transportation spending bill, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said he was dissatisfied with the IRS…A statement of administration policy […]

From the NYTimes a couple of hours ago: In a tough-worded, focused attack, Senator John Kerry lashed out at the Bush administration today over tax policy, jobs, the economy and health care. Mr. Bush has “created more excuses” than jobs, Mr. Kerry said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Detroit Economic Club. “His is […]

Fafnir shows investigative reporters how it’s done. With all the controversy as to whether the alleged Killian memos released by CBS were fake, Fafnir has the brilliance to go directly to the central figure in this swilling controversy: the IBM Selectric Composer in question. Check here to see if his interview cleared this up.