That is all. FRB: Press Release–Federal Reserve issues FOMC statement–May 1, 2013. Cross-posted at Asymptosis.

Dems hold small edge in Congressional ballot matchup: A new Quinnipiac poll finds that voters support the Dem candidate in their district over the Republican by 41-37. Sixty seven percent disapprove of the Congressional GOP, versus 60 percent who disapprove of Dems. Sixty two percent say Republicans don’t care about their needs and problems; 54 […]

Reader rjs points us to: Everyone’s Missing the Bigger Picture in the Reinhart-Rogoff Debate – But whether you believe that the errors in the RR study are fatal or minor, there is a bigger picture that everyone is ignoring. Initially, RR never pushed an austerity-only prescription. As they wrote yesterday: The only way to break […]

by Linda Beale Robert Reich: Chained CPI Makes No Sense For Seniors With MoveOn.org, Robert Reich has produced a new video on the proposed change to Social Security that would REDUCE BENEFITS for seniors and wreak the most havoc on the most vulnerable.  As he notes in the video, the proposed change–which the Obama Administration […]

Joseph Rosenberg of Tax Policy Center notes that the chained cpi changes taxes for ppeople as well: Obama Budget Plan Results In ‘Back Door’ Tax Increase For Middle-Class Households: Analysis: For those looking to put the woes of Tax Day behind them, we have some bad news: It’s probably only going to get worse. President […]

Robert Walmann and Kenneth Thomas have traded e=mails with Michael Ash. Michael Ash and Bob Pollin, two economists at PERI, respond to Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff in the New York Times: THE debate over government debt and its relationship to economic growth is at the forefront of policy debates across the industrialized world. The […]

by Linda Beale Baucus Will Not Run in 2014 (yay!) Max Baucus announced to his fellow Senators today that he will not seek re-election to the Senate in 2014.  He has been the top Democrat on the Finance Committee since 2001.  See Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus Won’t Run Again in 2014, Bloomberg.net (Apr. 23, […]

by Mike Kimel GW is a Smart Man A few days ago, Keith Hennessey, who worked in GW Bush’s administration, wrote that the former president is a very smart man. Now, a smart person doesn’t have to be smart at everything. There are plenty of examples of very smart people doing very stupid things, particularly […]

Fiscal austerity–or deficit cutting–is the subject of much current debate. As Europe proves, severe austerity can slow growth or lead to recession. Despite periodic slowdowns, the US economy is on a sustainable fiscal path. The deficit is projected to drop below 2.5 percent of GDP by 2017, below its 30-year average, helped partially by the […]