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

QE III and bond yields

There is a perhaps strategically overstated disagreement among enthusiasts for QE III about how it might help.  Woodford et al stress the importance of QE as a signal of precommitment to expansionary future conventional monetary policy which will act through short term interest rates when the FOMC will be inclined to raise them above the […]

We have QE III

The FOMC announces QE III !* To support a stronger economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at the rate most consistent with its dual mandate, the Committee agreed today to increase policy accommodation by purchasing additional agency mortgage-backed securities at a pace of $40 billion per month. The Committee also […]

Is Romney a Habitual Liar? Or Is He Instead Something Even More Dangerous: God-Awful Stupid? [Updated]

At his press conference, Romney accused Obama of “having that embassy reiterate a statement effectively apologizing for the right of free speech.” Romney claimed that the embassy had said, in his paraphrase, “We stand by our comments that suggest that there’s something wrong with the right of free speech.” This, too, was a Romney lie. […]

What is remembrance for?

I am just catching up with some of the news this week. Barkley Rosser at Econospeak had a timely post on 9/11 ceremonies and reminds us about what we accept as special or inevitably normal: Things More Worthy Of Remembrance Than 9/11 Yes, what happened 11 years ago today was awful and tragic, and there is much […]

Bartlett: Mitt Romney, Carried Interest and Capital Gains

Via  Taxprog blog: Bartlett: Mitt Romney, Carried Interest and Capital GainsNew York Times:  Mitt Romney, Carried Interest and Capital Gains, by Bruce Bartlett: A key reason for Mr. Romney’s low tax rate is that a very substantial amount of his income comes from capital gains – 51% in 2011 and 58% in 2010. Capital gains, […]

Whistleblower gets millions: good for compliance improvement (and makes us ask again–did Romney get amnesty?)

by Linda Beale Whistleblower gets millions: good for compliance improvement (and makes us ask again–did Romney get amnesty?) Bradley Birkenfeld, the UBS whistleblower who helped jumpstart the IRS’s enforcement of foreign bank account reporting and helped catch criminal tax evaders, ended up serving a relatively short prison term (for failure to be entirely forthcoming, in […]

The (Truly Dangerous) Bull In a China Shop: The American Value of Supporting Gratuitous Insults of Other Countries’ Majority Religions

After expressing sorrow about the deaths, Mr. Romney told reporters on the campaign trail that the Obama administration had tried to appease Islamic extremists who should have been condemned instead. He said a statement issued by the American Embassy in Cairo before the deaths criticizing an anti-Islamic video was “akin to an apology” and a […]

i Phone boost to US GDP ???

The Wall Street Journal is running an article where they suggest that sales of the new i Phone could boost US real GDP growth. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443696604577645920875813322.htmlased firm But the i Phone is built in China by a Taiwanese based firm.  So the consumer and business spending on the new i Phone will be offset in the […]

White working class

John Quiggin writes at  Crooked Timber on a not new discussion on what constitutes “white working class” or “whiteworkingclass” used in media descriptions.  In comments there are several who tackle the question well….Bruce Wilder for one.  I am not sure there is a clear answer without considering geographical issues and histories, rural/city/suburb issues, and such, but […]

Mitt did it?

Public Policy Polling has a robo based poll making the rounds yesterday with this question (15) and responses: Q15 Who do you think deserves more credit for the killing of Osama bin Laden: Barack Obama or Mitt Romney? Barack Obama……..63% Mitt Romney……… 6% Not sure ………. 31% The breakdown looks like this: Choosing Mitt is […]