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

The importance of redistribution

by Linda Beale The importance of redistribution I have dedicated ataxingmatter to a concept I call “democratic egalitarianism”–the idea that individuals flourish best in a free society that allows them to choose democratically the rules that govern their lives, with the understanding that the institutions must be sustainable and must allow all individuals to flourish, […]

The Tax Code Ain’t Nearly So Big as Often Claimed

by Linda Beale The Tax Code Ain’t Nearly So Big as Often Claimed I can’t resist pointing readers to tax professor Jim Maule’s excellent post chastising everybody–from those obviously slanted propaganda-tank tax gurus Chris Edwards (you all know him as the purported tax expert from the right-wing pseudo-libertarian Cato Institute, whose other associate, Dan Mitchell, […]

Going Dark–not just an SEC issue, when companies keep their tax classification secret

by Linda Beale Going Dark–not just an SEC issue, when companies keep their tax classification secret Today’s Times includes an interesting piece by Floyd Norris about the problem of companies that are neither private nor public but have (or claim to have) few enough public investors that the SEC allows them to “go dark”–quit reporting […]

Fed Policy and Bond Yields

Update:  Charts and data after the read more. With the Fed completing a two day meeting and Bernanke holding a press conference today  it may be a good time to make a few comments about bond yields. In an open economy with a current account deficit the equilibrium interest rate is the one that attracts […]

Welfare Reform Kills II

Earlier I noted the research of Peter Muennig, Zohn Rosen and Elizabeth Ty Wilde which proves (at all standard confidence intervals) that welfare reform killed people.  I was alarmed that almost nobody but the must read Bill Gardner noticed this research.  Now Dylan Matthews has a long excellent post on the research and other evidence that anti […]

Health Care Thoughts: Conference Wrap-up

by Tom aka Rusty Rustbelt Health Care Thoughts: Conference Wrap-up So I do some conferences with a lot of people who are way smarter than me, people literally and figuratively on the cutting edge. What thoughts are dominating health care these days, especially the provider community? Here is a list of frequent talking points, further […]