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

AB notes on the December Employment Situation

This article is roughly 24 hours late, but I do have additional points to the headline numbers. From the BLS: Nonfarm payroll employment edged down (-85,000) in December, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 10.0 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment fell in construction, manufacturing, and wholesale trade, while temporary […]

The Pseudo-Psychology of Psupply Pside Economics

by Bruce Webb In my view you can boil Supply Side down to a simple aphorism: “If you tax something, people will use less of it”. And all things being equal and depending on how you define ‘something’ this seems economically and psychologically plausible, higher prices drive down demand. Unfortunately in the real world all […]

Inequality–does it matter? should taxes address it?

Bruce Bartlett’s December 15, 2009 piece, Inequality: A Problem?, states Bartlett’s agreement with Dalton Conley that “the left should stop worrying so much about inequality per se–its costs are overstated, as well as the benefits of greater equality. Instead …liberals should concentrate more on helping the poor and less on beating upthe rich.” Now, before […]

Taking a Short Break

I’m certain that everyone is waiting with bated breath to see if my five-part “NOT totally clueless” series is completed in five parts or if it gets extended again, but a couple of personal events have intervened, so I’ll be away for a few days. Enjoy the other performers, and don’t forget to tip your […]

Industrial Policy

Atrios mentions one of the problems discussing trade and industrial policy by the federal governmentThe First Rule Of Industrial Policy at Eschaton. Herbert: “This is a society in deep, deep trouble and the fixes currently in the works are in no way adequate to the enormous challenges we’re facing. For example, an end to the […]

Notes on global income disparities

by Rebecca Wilder On Angry Bear, Tom Bozzo authored The Rich *Are* Different, focusing on the makeup of earnings across US tax payer brackets. And Cactus authors Poverty and the Real Median Income, where he comments on the poverty share and median income across U.S. Presidencies. So here is where I chime in on a […]

Those Low Rates

Via (what else?) Alea’s Twitter feed, John Taylor defends himself against Ben Bernanke: “The evidence is overwhelming that those low interest rates were not only unusually low but they logically were a factor in the housing boom and therefore ultimately the bust,” Taylor, a Stanford University economist, said in an interview today in Atlanta. It’s […]