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

Investors warn moves to curb climate change will hit fuel demand

From the Financial Times (pay wall I believe): Investors warn moves to curb climate change will hit fuel demand October 24, 2013 By Ed Crooks Investors managing assets worth about $3tn have written to the world’s largest oil, gas and coal companies, calling on them to prepare for a possible decline in demand for fossil […]

Not even a cursory fact check

We all make mistakes sometimes, but there is a lot of this in the news. Lifted from Robert’s Stochastic Thoughts: Dianne Barrette of Winter Haven Florida claims that instead of paying $54 a month for health insurance (no hospital coverage and a $ 50 deductible for office visits) she will have to pay $ 591 […]

Deficit Disorder Symptoms–via Naked Capitalism/New Economic Perspectives

by Linda Beale Deficit Disorder Symptoms–via Naked Capitalism/New Economic Perspectives Yves Smith over at Naked Capitalism has an insightful re-post today on the way the right in particular–and most in the media and public–talk about deficits and misunderstand the relative importance of failures to invest in physical and capital infrastructure (roads, education…) versus the relative […]

Tax Filing Season Delay

by Linda Beale Tax Filing Season Delay The IRS announced that the 16-day federal shutdown will cause a delay in the start of tax filing season by a week to two weeks.  The exact date when returns will first be accepted, to be announced in December, was to have been January 21, but may now […]

What is the line between public and private spending?

Via the Washington Post: Here’s David Cay Johnston, interviewed by Joshua Holland (link from Joseph Delaney), in response to a question about “why we have a very low tax burden overall, relative to other wealthy countries, but a lot of Americans feel that they’re being taxed to death?”: Well, one of the reasons some Americans […]

Time to Eliminate the Debt Ceiling

by Linda Beale Time to Eliminate the Debt Ceiling As the post-shutdown resumption of talking in Congress gets underway and the days start counting down to the next debt ceiling deadline (perhaps brought along sooner by the delay in the tax filing startup, as discussed in the last post), I suppose we must all at […]

Big Business and the Tea Party

Lifted from Robert’s Thoughts: Who said it ?  2013 edition “that which the American people have been waiting for for the last 200 years, politicians listening to the people instead of the ruling class” That would be far right tea-partier Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) The mountain West is red.  Red Staters vs the capitalist class. In […]

Influence legislation…end bank welfare

Hat tip reader rjs: Reps. Alan Grayson and John Conyers Call for End to Bank Welfare, Tough Rules on Bank Capital – Yves Smith – Congressmen Alan Grayson and John Conyers have published a well-thought-out proposal on bank equity, with the objective of assuring that when banks do stupid things (which they do with great […]