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

Mashup Post: Two Marks

No original content here, just two posts that make even more sense together: Mark Thoma proves he’s an economist (not just an econometrician) by reminding everyone of the Opportunity Cost of the Oughts from a long-term perspective*:((Rdan…Attribution of the quote is in error due to a format error at Mark’s…the original is from Joseph Stiglitz […]

Success of the Surge

by Bruce Webb John McCain and others have been all over TV arguing that the success of the Surge in Iraq proves that we should just go ahead and throw forty thousand more troops on top of the twenty thousand sent in March to Afghanistan. Well ignoring for the moment that where the surge increased […]

The Fed’s attempt to assuage inflation fears that don’t need assuaging

by Rebecca There is no shortage of speeches by US central bankers these days. The following is an excerpt from a NY Times article that highlights the debate among key Fed officials about the speed and method of stimulus withdrawal once the decision to exit has been made: Mr. Bernanke and other officials want to […]

About Angry Bear Angry Bear 2009: The Wall Street Journal, 24/7 Wall Street and Time CNN named Angry Bear among the top 25 independent economic blogs on the net. As quoted at CNN “… Angry Bear is the product of a half dozen Ph.D economists, an historian, and financial professionals. The writers provide individual perspectives […]

Adam Smith in a broader context

by guest poster Gavin Kennedy (Rdan-A reader comments on the Research Agenda post on Adam Smith. The comments could not handle the volume of text, so I took the liberty of putting up the comment and the response. Good work guys): The reader suggests Mr. Gavin consider the following quote and his explanation:Adam Smith in […]

Green Shoots Data Defined

As a rule, the Shiller Index uses the CPI as reported for All Urban Consumers (CPIAUCNS on Fred(r)). But the Index is only updated Quarterly, so monthly data is estimated. Which produces a very interesting difference over August, not to mention September expectations: The annualised inflation rate between June and August is 0.39%, which just […]

While You’re Busy Making Other Plans

Two Views of The Late Great Johnny Ace: 69 Years after his birth, my eldest daughter’s favorite band is The Beatles (slightly ahead of the JoBros). The main reason, apparently, is this film. (I’m trying to show her the originals on which it is based, but the best of the set is temporarily unavailable).

Score the War

by Bruce Webb Davis Obey asks some hard questions that should have been asked long ago. My eye was caught by question one which prompts the title of my post. Why insist that Health Care be budget neutral and come in below some arbitrary target? Why did we even allow these wars to be funded […]