Arnold Kling writes: If the oil company executives want to put money on their “working assumption of $15-$30 per barrel,” then they should go short in the futures market. But if their goal is to maximize shareholder wealth, then they should make long-term investment planning decisions based on the futures price of about $60 a […]
Yesterday’s CPI release showed that inflation continues to gallop ahead at a rather high rate, though once again, most of the rise was attributable to higher energy prices. Marketwatch offers this assessment: WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — U.S. consumer prices increased a larger-than-expected 0.7% in January, led by higher energy, food and housing costs, the Labor Department […]
Jerry Bowyer has finally written something that makes a little sense: This debate has been going on for more than a year between supply-siders — the gold-first crowd on one side, the bond-market/interest-rate/gold-also crowd on the other. Meanwhile, each month the consumer price index comes out with a relatively low reading. If the accuracy of […]
“We’re at war.” “During this time of war…” “While this country is at war…” I’m tired of hearing such statements while referring to the “War on Terror”. Because they indicate a fundamental confusion between a metaphor and a real war. And on this President’s Day, I can’t help but think about how this confusion has […]
Kevin Drum is hoping Senator Roberts does the right thing: Apparently Roberts now feels not only that his committee should be briefed, but that the program itself should be overseen by the FISA court. If Roberts follows up on this, then good for him. On both scores, I have my doubts. CNN is still suggesting […]
Mark Thoma points to two examples of fiscal dishonesty from the Bush Administration. First up is Allan “not Glenn” Hubbard abusing statistics to suggest that the Health Savings Accounts proposal is not just another tax cut for the rich. Edwin Park and Robert Greenstein document how Mr. Hubbard’s claims are misleading. Next up is an […]
AB reader Greg W. alerts us to some spin from Brian Riedl of the Heritage Foundation: During the 2005 budget reconciliation debate, crit¬ics trotted out the tired old myth that Republicans were cutting spending for the poor to pay for tax cuts for the rich. Many commentators accepted this as truth and repeated it, including […]
Could someone help Thomas Nugent with his writing: Obviously, the out-of-power Democrats on the committee see the glass as half full, so one would have expected them to focus on the less successful economic statistics that characterize this economy. They didn’t disappoint, although their rendering of economic data once again proved they have no idea […]
I liked a picture that Barry Ritholtz put up the other day showing interest rates over the past half century or so, and it got me to thinking. In particular, I wondered which was more anomalous: the clear upward trend in interest rates during the period 1965-1982, or the clear downward trend in interest rates […]
Byron York comments on Dick Cheney’s interview with Brit Hume where the question was clearly whether the Vice President had the authority to declassify information. Did Cheney lie when he claimed there was an Executive Order giving him declassification authority? Mr. York points to Executive Order 13292, issued by President Bush on March 25, 2003. […]