So, what people like me have been calling for is a temporarily relaxed attitude toward deficits as long as the economy remains depressed and monetary policy is up against the zero lower bound. What does that have to do with the 1970s?Well, here’s a chart on the ratio of debt to gross domestic product. So, […]

Guest post by Joseph White, Case Western Reserve University and Department Chair andDirector of the Center for Policy Studies and reposted from Scholar Strategy Network: HOW DID WE GET HERE? THE ROOTS OF DEFICIT BRINKSMANSHIP March 2013 brings yet another in an endless series of budget showdowns in Washington DC. This time, draconian “sequestration” spending cuts […]

Via Crooks and Liars comes notice of this proposal for corporate/business voting right and elected official in municipal elections,  except for school elections (hat tip Dan B.): Rep. Steve Lavin has introduced HB485, A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: “AN ACT REVISING ELIGIBILITY TO VOTE IN MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS AND TO FILE FOR CANDIDACY FOR MUNICIPAL ELECTED […]

Prof Barkley Rosser at Econospeak also asks questions on the freaking out over the fiscal deficit numbers: Only 6% Of Public Knows Deficit Is Declining Yes, here we go again, massive public ignorance post # I forget how many.  This has been floating around out there for awhile but was on Rachel Maddow last night, […]

by Linda Beale Senate Confirms Lew at Treasury The US Senate confirmed Jacob Lew as Treasury secretary by a 71 to 26 vote (with 20 Republicans voting with Democrats) late Wednesday.  See Jeremy Peters,Senate, in a more affable mode, backs Treasury nominee, New York Times (Sept. 27, 2013). I’ve covered my reservations about Jack Lew […]

Via Bloomberg comes this snippet from testimony between Senator Warren and Ben Bernanke.  Follow the link as the embed does not seem to work. Partial Transcript via Global Economic Trends Warren: These big financial institutions are getting cheaper borrowing to the tune of $83 billion in a single year, simply because people believe government would […]

by Mike Kimel What it Takes to Get a Mortgage These Days About six months ago I got a job that required relocation. To make a long story short, we just purchased a new home. As part of the process, the lenders required a lot of paperwork. Not a surprise. But some of the paperwork […]

  http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/02/26/business/26reuters-usa-fdic-earnings.html?src=busln&nl=business&emc=edit_dlbkpm_20130226&_r=0 The U.S. banking industry in 2012 recorded its highest earnings since before the 2007-2009 financial crisis, according to data released on Tuesday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The FDIC said the industry’s full-year earnings were the second-highest on record at $141.3 billion, an increase over 2011 of $22.9 billion, or 19.3 percent.