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

Social Security: 2 Programs, 3 Projections, 3 Actuarial Periods

(Update: the numbers in the above Table represent the present payroll gap. That is an immediate increase in FICA equalling any negative number would fund its respective program over that given period under that set of assumptions). (Update 2…a quirk in the comment section preventing viewing the chart on landing page is fixed…Dan) The standard […]

Prisoner Exchange vs Negotiating with Terrorists

Predictably some elements of the Obama Opposition (because that is really the best description of them at this point) are up in arms at the exchange of Sgt. Bergdahl for Gitmo Detainees on the grounds that “We don’t negotiate with terrorists”. Well you know who DOES negotiate DIRECTLY with groups that actively commit periodic violent […]

Wealth Is Not Capital: The Brilliant Seth Ackerman Explains It All 4 U

I’m stunned by how good the new Jacobin piece by Seth Ackerman is: “Piketty’s Fair-Weather Friends.” It gives what I find to be the best understanding so far of the whole Piketty “think space.” It’s so good that I can’t encapsulate it, so I’ll just share some of the passages I’m most taken with, with my […]

Northwest Plan 2013 – Extracts by Webb

Click to embiggen. And then do some magnifying. Because even a selected file covering the whole 75 year projection period yields small type. Anyway this is my first take from Dale Coberly’s numbers for 2013 Northwest Plan with three calculated columns added by me. Those are the three with “Cost-Non Interest Income” as part or […]

Northwest Plan 2012 – Numbers by Request of Commenter BK

I am just beginning an attempt to tranform the Northwest Plan for a Real Social Security Fix into a series of Tables and Figures (and original spreadsheets) that people can review at length. But since the authors were effectively accused of not really having numbers at all here is an advanced peek at some of […]

Michigan Republican Senate Candidate Terri Lynn Land Declares Federal “War Generals” Incompetent. The Targeted Enemy Being Michigan.

[Michigan Republican Senate candidate Terri Lynn] Land, a Byron Center Republican, had defended presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s anti-bailout position two years ago and noted that GM had become known as “Government Motors.” She declined to revisit the topic Wednesday during a brief exchange with reporters, which she cut short following the forum. “I’ve always supported […]

‘Unemployment Insurance and Disability Insurance in the Great Recession’

Via Economist’s View comes this note on ‘Unemployment Insurance and Disability Insurance in the Great Recession’ From the NBER Digest: The authors find very little interaction between UI benefit eligibility and SSDI applications, and conclude that SSDI applications do not appear to respond to UI exhaustion. While the authors cannot rule out small effects, they conclude […]