by Robert Waldmann, lifted from Stochastic Thoughts Ross Douthat may be a “total tool” Ross Douthat is such a tool. He starts with a case of a liberal threatened with rape. He argues ” it may be that the culture war cuts both ways” That may be an insinuation which relies entirely on what may […]
Ross Douthat may be a "total tool"
Media Advisory: Furman, Harkin, Miller to Discuss Path Forward for Raising the Federal Minimum Wage to $10.10
Via an Economic Policy Newsflash (hat tip KH): On Tuesday, January 14, 2014 at 9:15 a.m. ET, Jason Furman (Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers), Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) will join EPI President Lawrence Mishel to discuss the economic case for raising the federal minimum wage and their […]
Marco Rubio Says Farm Subsidies and Hurricane-Disaster Funds Should Not Be Federal Programs. Really. [Updated and typo-corrected.]
For a senator who likes to hold himself out as the future of the Republican brand, Marco Rubio has come up with a remarkably retrograde contribution to the party’s chorus of phony empathy for the poor: Let the states do it. All anti-poverty funds should be combined into one “flex fund,” he said in a […]
The Economy Is a Ponzi Scheme
I don’t think there’s anything eye-popping or revolutionary this post, but it’s thinking that I’ve been finding useful. Long before Larry Summers bruited his recent ideas about secular stagnation and the need for bubbles, I came up against this great line from Nick Rowe (April 2011): The economy wants a Ponzi scheme. I’ve been pondering […]
Why Attorneys Will Not Always Sue In Malpractice
Hat Tip to Crooks and Liars; ProPublica When Attorneys Refused My Medical Malpractice Case”. I wrote on this topic one time before. What attracts me to it again is newer data as presented by Publica, which expresses the same finding I noted before. Attorneys will not take a case unless they can win and make […]
Underconsumption, Income, Wealth, and Capital Gains
I’m rather devastated to find (thanks to Tom Brown at Pragmatic Capitalism!) a discussion I missed at Winterspeak’s place from mid-December, with some of my favorite commenters going after the underconsumption argument that I’ve been going on about. It starts by citing Mark Sadowski’s comment from Interfluidity “clarifying the difference between wealth and income.” I […]
Yes, Virginia, there really IS a (rapidly-increasing) possibility of a healthcare insurance public option. The private insurance companies are inviting it.
When millions of health-insurance plans were canceled last fall, the Obama administration tried to be reassuring, saying the terminations affected only the small minority of Americans who bought individual policies. But according to industry analysts, insurers and state regulators, the disruption will be far greater, potentially affecting millions of people who receive insurance through […]
Sunday Reads
50% of Congress Are Millionaires “The nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics reports at least 268 of the 534 lawmakers were worth an average of $1 million in 2012. These millionaires are the people debating issues like unemployment benefits, food stamps and the minimum wage, which affect people with far fewer resources — it’s no wonder […]
Poverty and the Laboratories of Democracy
by Robert Waldmann Poverty and the Laboratories of Democracy Kevin Drum reports on the latest effort by a Republican to pretend he gives a damn about the poor. Marco Rubio proposes, among other things, the bold new idea of block grants. Drum condemns the proposal, but writes that there have been some advantages from Fedralism. […]