Dan here…Linda Beale writes on the intent and passage of these bills. Whether the use of the payroll tax has political and budget consequences for people’s perceptions of Social Security and its future remains a question previously discussed at Angry Bear here. by Linda Beale (Update from Linda: Payroll Tax Extension Passes) GOP’s payroll tax […]
Steve Roth is a serial entrepreneur whose businesses have ranged from book and magazine publishing to high-tech professional conferences to corporate services. Steve’s publications include “Capital in the American Economy Since 1930: Kuznets Revisited,” an appendix to James Livingston’s Against Thrift: Why Consumer Culture is Good for the Economy, the Environment, and Your Soul. That […]
The number of newly reported drug shortages (mostly generic) has been growing: There were 74 newly reported drug shortages in 2005. The number dipped slightly to 70 in 2006, then rose to 129 in 2007, 149 in 2008, 166 in 2009, and 211 in 2010. In mid-2011 there were about 246 shortages. NPR had a […]
Barry Ritholz keeps us abreast of retail spending: Last month, I published a post on the nonsense that is Black Friday sales (No, Black Friday Sales Were Not Up 16% (not even 6%). That evolved into a Washington Post article, Did Black Friday save the season? Beware the retail hype. Today, we learn that many […]
by Linda Beale Gingrich tax ‘plan’ starves government, feeds the wealthy, rests on flawed assumptions In case you hadn’t heard about it, Gingrich would offer taxpayers a choice to pay tax under current policy or at a 15% rate, with zero taxation of capital gains, dividends and interest that accrues mostly to the rich and […]
By Rebecca Wilder EA Spreads: Why Should the Trend Change? They changed the title; but originally the NY Times reported “Euro Zone Agrees to Reinforce Maastricht Rules“. That’s exactly what EA policy makers agreed to last week – not much to bring home. The real shift in policy came from the ECB. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard highlights […]
by Mike Kimel American v. Brazilian Healthcare, a Continuing Series I spoke to my sister on Skype last night. She’s been in Natal, in Northeastern Brazil, for the past few months. Last week, she noticed a couple small warts growing on her leg. So she wandered down to a government run hospital and and had […]
Lifted from Robert’s Stochastic Thoughts: All evidence from the debates notwithstanding, there is a Republican with a brain. Asif Mandvi, reporter for the “Daily Show,” tried to prank Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, asking for a sample of her urine. She immediately forked it over, though it was only apple juice — yazakchattiest. I want […]
Note: I wasn’t going to post this, but after all the flack Willard Romney is receiving about offering to bet his fellow millionaires $10,000, I find myself in the unusual position of being sympathetic to him. Therefore, the story of the day in early November of 1992 on which I offered to bet $10,000: UPDATE: […]
Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) poses a question that needs a careful look and response: In its top of the hour news segment NPR reported that President Obama hoped that voters would give him credit for avoiding a second Great Depression. If this is an accurate representation of what President Obama said then […]