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

B-2 Spirit Bomber Totaled

by reader ilsm B-2 Spirit Bomber Totaled. The phone rang in the pentagon. The Air Force general on the line called home to tell Dad he wrecked one of his shiny new toys. Last Feb on Guam a B-2, which flies by wire. controlled by software, pitched up without input from the flight controls, drag […]

Two thank yous for Hillary

Reader Sammy sends this opinion piece on Hillary Clinton’s primary race. Peggy Noonan in the WSJ offers a thanks on Clinton: But this I believe is the truth: America dodged a bullet. That was the other meaning of the culminating events of this week.Mrs. Clinton would have been a disaster as president. Mr. Obama may […]

Soc Sec XVIII: Social Security Advisory Board Technical Panel Report

Andrew Biggs notes that the Technical Panel of the SSAB (Social Security Advisory Board) has released its Report on Assumptions and Methods. I am only a few pages into the 82 page Report but my initial response is that this is a very important deal. These people do seem to be actual independent observers fully […]

Totally individual or a group insurance

by Reader Arne (lifted from comments) TJ asks “Either Retirement Security is a societal imperative …”An interesting proposition, but has little to do with SS. Consider a cohort of 65 year old guys just reaching retirement. To simplify the math, assume they all need the same amount to live on. In the absence of SS, […]

Secret club handshake…who is allowed to have one?

more cat pictures The econ as science was a success as an open thread and blossomed into a great discussion. Now, we at Angry Bear have been accused of hyper partisnship and perhaps being an echo chamber. Can that be differentiated from an identified strong point of view? Bias will always be present in a […]

Open thread 6/06/08

The video was too annoying. The last open thread on economics as science opened a wonderful discussion. Hope for another one.

MINIMUM WAGE & TEENAGE UNEMPLOYMENT

By Spencer With the jump in the unemployment rate today the old line that increases in the minimum wage causes teenage unemployment to rise is being tossed about.. So look at the record. We have a long record to compare the teenage unemployment rate and the minimum wage. If you look at the two series […]

Soc Sec XVII: Cap Increases & Donut Holes

by Bruce Webb Andrew Biggs at his site Notes on Social Security Reform spotted and copied a remarkable article from the WSJ under the title Obama’s Social Security Plan Draws Critics, Even Dems. Why remarkable? Because the people quoted actually seem to know what they are talking about, rather unusual for a MSM publication. Rather […]

Support contractors and ilsm

by ilsm Ilsm writes another post on whittling the beak: The next few weeks I am going through GAO 08-621T and 08-572T. The T is for testimony.. In the Testimony: a survey of “52 of DoD’s Major Weapon Systems” revealed an “average of 45% of the staff are individuals outside of DoD” or contractors. The […]