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

“Constitutional Sheriffs” and “Posse Comitatus”

“Constitutional Sheriffs” and “Posse Comitatus,” Econospeak, Barkley Rosser  In the mid-1970s when I was finishing my Ph.D. diss and also working for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in its Water Quality Bureau, where I was mostly dealing with sewer systems issues, the Wisconsin branch of the Posse Comitatus was attacking and “arresting” individuals from […]

GOP Does Well As Dow Jones Average Crosses Major Milestone Of 36,000

(Dan here…originally published 12:11 a.m. Nov. 3. We now know Youngkin won the Virginia governer’s race) GOP Does Well As Dow Jones Average Crosses Major Milestone Of 36,000.  I am posting before the election results of Nov. 2, 2021, are fully in, but it looks that the GOP candidates will win in Virginia, where Biden […]

Virginia 2021 Election Going To Look More Like 1980, 1994, 2010 Or None Of The Above?

Is Virginia 2021 Election Going To Look More Like 1980, 1994, 2010 Or None Of The Above?, Econospeak, Barkley Rosser, October 26, 2021 In Virginia there is an election for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and the whole House of Delegates, while the State Senate with a slight Dem majority is not up for election, […]

No Covid-19d-19 Here Or in North Korea: Turkmenistan

No Covid-19d-19 Here Or in North Korea: Turkmenistan Yes, Turkmenistan is among the few nations on the planet claiming to have not had a single case of Covid-19, along with the DPRK, aka “North Korea.”  The October 16 Economist reports, after noting the arrest of Nurgeldi Halykov, who reported that the British ambassador got it, […]

Why The Late Janos Kornai Did Not Get The Nobel Prize

Why The Late Janos Kornai Did Not Get The Nobel Prize  Apparently yesterday Janos Kornai died in Budapest at the age of 94. He was the greatest analyst of the socialist system there was. Indeed, his personal life saw the full history of it in in his native land of Hungary, where, being Jewish, he […]

Bad Reporting On Latest Sveriges Riksbank Prize In Memory Of Nobel

Bad Reporting On Latest Sveriges Riksbank Prize In Memory Of Nobel  So the recipients are half of it to David Card for his 1994 study with the late Alan Krueger, who committed suicide not too long ago, on minimum wages, and how raising them might actually sometimes increase employment.  The other half was split between […]

The Passing Of Peter Flaschel And The Bielefeld School Of Macroeconomics

The Passing Of Peter Flaschel And The Bielefeld School Of Macroeconomics  German economist Peter Flaschel died yesterday at age 78.  I am not sure precisely of what, although it was not Covid-19.  He had been in declining health for some years, with a heart problem at least.  Roberto Veneziani, from whom I learned the news, […]

The Origin Of The Terms “Socialism” and “Communism”

The Origin Of The Terms “Socialism” and “Communism”  This is one of those rare times when I post here about my academic research, but on this matter, well, I think this is of broader interest than the usual obscuranta that I usually study academically. So, my wife, Marina, and I were asked to contribute to […]

Will Krysten Sinema Change Parties?

EconoSpeak: Will Krysten Sinema Change Parties?, Barkley Rosser, October 5, 2021 I have resisted posting something like this, but while I have yet to see anybody else suggest it, this possibility has been on my mind now for several days. We have never seen to my knowledge a senator refuse to offer their views on […]