It’s not just that you make a mistake; it’s that you cling desperately to that mistake and let it define you. Katrina revealed George W. Bush’s basic incompetence in a way that 9/11, Afghanistan, and Iraq had not. So he was weak going into the 2006 midterms. There were going to be losses. No one […]
Does committed funding — as in the Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes — protect programs from cuts ? It is often argued (sometimes here) that the committed funding makes it harder to cut Social Security OASDI pensions. Certainly recipients stress the (perceived) fact that they just want their money back and that it isn’t […]
by Rebecca Wilder Lieblings quote of the day by Dean Baker: “The ECB is run by a perverse cult that worships 2.0 percent inflation and is prepared to sacrifice almost all other economic goals to meet this target.” The article goes on to argue that the ECB should increase its inflation target to 3-4% in […]
by Mike Kimel Howard Hill on has been arguing with gold bugs: I know that some readers are going to say “Wait. The gold market is saying inflation, not deflation.” That’s not how I see it. I see the negative real rate on cash parked in T-bills (three month yield 0%, 12 month yield 0.08%) […]
The Washington Post points us to a thought that needs to be included in public debate. (h/t Stormy) Corporations pushing for job-creation tax breaks shield U.S.-vs.-abroad hiring data Some of the country’s best-known multinational corporations closely guard a number they don’t want anyone to know: the breakdown between their jobs here and abroad. So secretive […]
Barry Ritholtz points us to how essential US government intervention was for the banking system and in particular existing banks and the management at The Big Picture. It has links worth pursuing as well. I continue to be of the mind that the Wall Street Bailouts were misguided, and that a massive Swedish style reorg […]
[Expletive Deleted]. It will be interesting to see whether the Libya of Brad DeLong and Juan Cole’s beliefs produces a respectable opposition leader—one of the surer signs of rule by the people—before Canada does.* UPDATE: Via Amy Wilkins Twitter feed, Layton’s final words. Can anyone imagine the 2011 Obama** being able to say this: You […]
With the (roughly) 11% decline in US equities year-to-date, talk of a US recession has resurfaced. Through mid August, the high frequency economic indicators point to further weakness, rather than a double dip. In my view, whether or not the US is IN a recession – defined as the coincident variables followed by the NBER […]
by Mike Kimel Hi folks! Long time readers probably know I’ve been haranguing on the deficit and the national debt for a long time. Last week I got an e-mail telling me about a new book called “Deficit: Why Should I Care?” by Marie Bussing-Burks. I had never heard of either the book or Ms. […]