Update appended, 6/13 at 12:42 p.m. —- “It should not take longer to start a business in America than it does in Canada or France. But that is the fact.” — Hillary Clinton, during a small business discussion, Cedar Falls, Iowa, May 19, 2015 Our antenna always goes up when a politician asserts a “fact.” […]
Liberty. States’ rights. Freedom. Just ask Justice Kennedy about how the removal of federal constitutional checks on state and local courts, prosecutors and prisons has ensured our freedom. Well, his, anyway. He’ll tell you. It’s our constitutional design (his word), see. I keep wondering why international human rights organizations don’t aggressively spread information about this country’s states’-rights agenda […]
Paul Krugman is skeptical about the alleged negative effect of inequality on growth there have been a number of studies that seem to find a negative relationship, all based on some kind of international cross-section approach (some with time-series aspects too). So what is my problem? In general, I have doubts about the whole growth […]
This extraordinarily long and confused post is my response to Brad DeLong’s New Economic Thinking, Hicks-Hansen-Wicksell Macro, and Blocking the Back Propagation Induction-Unraveling from the Long Run Omega Point: The Honest Broker for the Week of May 31, 2015 Before the jump, I make only three brief points. 1) The phrase “the Long Run Omega […]
KANSAS CITY, Kan (Reuters) – While still unable to agree on a budget, Kansas lawmakers on Saturday averted a furlough of thousands of non-essential employees by passing a bill defining all employees as essential, officials said. Republican Governor Sam Brownback said in a statement posted on his website that he will sign the bill so […]
The basic reason is simple: it undercuts the broader progressive agenda. Also it buys into a particular Right economic meme. Both are huge mistakes. To understand this we need to step back and examine overall tax policy and tax progressivity. What should progressives want? Well I suggest that as a first step we restore top […]
The things we have in this country were given to us by God, not by government. — Perry: Government isn’t your savior, Nick Gass, Politico, today Social Security and Medicare were given to us by God? Who knew? The highway system, sewer and water systems, airports and air traffic control, operation of shipping ports, public […]
Consider the wording of the 18th Amendment passed out of Congress during WWI and ratified in 1919. Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all the territory subject to […]
Via Steve Benen and Greg Sargent. The Washington Post/ABC News pollsters asked “Do you think the federal government should or should not pursue policies that try to reduce the gap between wealthy and less well-off Americans?”. 62% of respondents answered yes. This should be very unsurprising as it is roughly the same as the fraction […]