Newt Gingrich tells the truth. “the individual mandate was originally developed by the Heritage Foundation and others, as a way to block Hillarycare.” Firebaggers argue that the PPACA is conservative, because it is similar to a Heritage Foundation proposal. They neglect to note that the proposal was made in bad faith. The point was to […]
From Boston.com comes news of: Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is suing five major US banks for allegedly seizing properties unlawfully and failing to help struggling borrowers keep their homes by lowering mortgage payments. The civil lawsuit — filed yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court — targets Bank of America Corp.,Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase […]
Brad DeLong (pulled from an otherwise-spot-on post): Two years ago, after all, the recession was over. The Recovery: I started these from the first month after NBER’s recession end date. Note that there is one true, consistent growth line—sadly, that’s the mean (average) duration of Unemployment. If this is victory, Pyrrhus of Epirus had nothing […]
The employment report continues to report a sluggish economy and employment growth. The payroll report showed a gain of 120,000 jobs in November, consisting of a 140,000 gain in private payrolls and a 20,000 drop in government employment. The household survey months showed the stronger gains it has in recent with a gain of some […]
[Update…Taryn Hart at the Plutocracy Files has a daily OWS blog with news & videos from around the country, and has also done a number of interviews with economists & other left luminaries, including dean baker, larry mishel, john quiggin, jeff madrik, et al, with more coming…hat tip reader rjs] In noting other OWS scenarios […]
Mike’s response to a short note from me I lifted and summarized from an advertisement/advice for investors on Brazil. Mike’s response below the fold: Today, Brazil moved aggressively to ensure that the widening global financial crisis will not reach its shores, taking several measures to stimulate consumption and investment in the world’s seventh largest economy. […]
Andrew Gelman points to our confusions regarding merit in our social perceptions of winners and losers. I might make a list of naughty and nice sayings for another post. Tyler Cowen pointed to an article by business-school professor Luigi Zingales about meritocracy. I’d expect a b-school prof to support the idea of meritocracy, and Zingales […]
Not a very long time, even if there were full and complete co-operation. Or, as LBJ said, Source (cross-posted from Skippy, the Bush Kangaroo)
I agree with Diamond and Saez that the top marginal income tax rate should be slightly over 70%, but I don’t agree with what I take their reasoning to be. My argument after the jump. They argue that the tax rate should be chosen to maximize taxes collected from the super rich. the argument that […]