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 […]

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).

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 […]

From Constance Ash’s discussion of Capitalism: A Love Story: There are some scenes that that must have been shot around the period when enraged screwed-over people gathered at the New York Stock Exchange yelling, “Jump! Jump! Jump!” Moore has said in an interview, that while at the NYSE the NY cops came up to him […]

I recently mentioned D-Squared’s four-part review (evisceration?) of Freakonomics. I had forgotten he wasn’t finished. Part Five is now posted. And the conceit of the pieces—”that there is something terribly, horribly wrong with the state of modern economics”—that dates back to 2003(!) is all the more validated. John Quiggin should include all five parts as […]

Robert Waldmann Kevin Drum writes Nicholas Tabarrok (brother of Alex) is a producer of small indie films. But he’s frustrated because there’s no way for him to increase his audience by lowering the price to see his pictures: When I make, say, an $8M film it has to compete at the same price level as […]

Robert Waldmann Does anyone hate the limit on comment length as much as I do ?Kharris had a very interesting comment on a post of mine below. I wrote a long reply.I can’t post that reply in the comment thread so Kharris’s comment and my reply are is after the jump. Warning amateur philosophy of […]

Robert Waldmann There is a surprising consensus for having a public option but allowing states to opt out. Paul Krugman likes the idea Josh Marshall likes the idea (and notes that Sen Schumer likes the idea) DailyKos frontpager McJoan likes the idea In that post Mcjoan also notes that Max Baucus and Howard Dean support […]