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

How Changes in State & Local Tax Burdens Affect Growth in Per Capita Income

by Mike Kimel How Changes in State & Local Tax Burdens Affect Growth in Per Capita Income Cross posted at the Presimetrics Blog. I’ve had a number of posts recently looking at the effect of reductions in the tax burden during Presidential administrations or during (or just following) recessions and how those affected subsequent growth. […]

Election thinking

Mark Thoma hosted Robert Kuttner at Firedoglake, the introduction begins with these words: It’s possible to give two very different interpretations of the Obama presidency so far. The first is a relatively positive interpretation. Proponents of this view argue that even though Obama has faced a united GOP willing and able to use filibusters to […]

Increasing internal demand in China for goods needs more thoughtful analysis

A shift to more internal demand for China might not benefit the US in ways we think it will. One such area is the impact of increased demand for resources and energy. And another is where the jobs are. China Puts Up More Money to Build Solar Capacity The government-owned China Development Bank has just […]

Procurement of big ticket items

Follow up to the US military ‘procurement and research’ increases post: $25 billion for the first new aircraft carrier, $9 billion for per for another one or two each. Aircraft Builders Compete for Air Force Tanker Contract Again 24/7 Wall St.: Maybe the third time will be the charm. Today marks the closing date for […]

Relative employment is shifting

Today Statistics Canada released impressive June employment figures from its Labour Force Survey (LFS). In case you missed it, the April gains, +109,000 new jobs, set a record. And the June gains, +93,000, were nearly as spectacular. (Note: the unemployment rate for Canada in the chart to the left is through May, not June)Canada’s labor […]

…and thereby improving our exports.

by Stormylifted from an e-mail –and thereby improving our exports. Some background: Presently, Colombia enjoys a healthy trade surplus with the U.S. “Colombia’s biggest surpluses in the January-April period were with the U.S., at $2.325 billion, and with the Netherlands, at $425 million.” Colombia also is actively promoting its sourcing capabilities: “Colombia’s IT sector already […]

www.HealthCare.gov

I am late to the news, but so far reported on healthcare law implementation: 1. www.HealthCare.gov, a new online portal where anyone can go to find insurance options in their state, went live. It’s a very handy resource for information that used to be difficult to find. It’s available to help millions who need insurance […]

CORPORATE CASH HOLDINGS

Recently there has been a claim that corporations are holding large sums of cash rather than investing it because they are fearful of Obama’s “socialist policies”. But if you compare corporate retained earnings to the GDP GAP lagged one year it looks like the debate should be over why corporations are investing so much. This […]

Nursing Home Regulatory Fiasco – PART I

by Tom aka Rusty NURSING HOME REGULATORY FIASCO – PART I Nursing homes are subject to a two part interactive regulatory system (plus several others) used to calculate certain reimbursement levels. The Minimum Data Set 2.0 (MDS) is a clinical reporting system that is supposed to improve care by having nurses do more paperwork (more […]