An article about famine in the Horn of Africa by Maude Barlow appeared today. It is worth your consideration. (h/t coberly) My own response is in comments. Following are excerpts: Most Westerners see the crisis in the Horn of Africa as a combination of a large population, chronic poverty, corruption on the part of African […]

Since Sunday noon till about Tuesday 6 pm had no power. The live high voltage wire downed along with two trees prevented cars coming or going for the duration of days, so helped spur reflection on neighbors, basic water needs and food stuffs, and in some cases emergencies (not our area). Still, fire and ambulance […]

by Mike Kimel Tyler Cowen has a post on truck driving jobs in North Dakota: My poking around showed that some of them start at 75k a year, though with raises for good performance. The implication, of course – why don’t unemployed people move to North Dakota and drive trucks for good wages rather than […]

As Rusty presents his short ‘thoughts’ on the administrative end of the national healthcare reform process, I noticed some readers have taken the problems he notes as indicative that the whole process is flawed and destructive. I do believe that is a wrong tack to take and will not serve to learn more of what […]

If these words translate to actions in the Congress on emergency aid, I believe it is a significant departure from past policies. And Virginia, Cantor’s home state, is predicted to be impacted. We will know soon enough if political capital is spent on this idea. A spokesperson for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) said […]

by Rebecca Wilder Lieblings quote of the day by Dean Baker: “The ECB is run by a perverse cult that worships 2.0 percent inflation and is prepared to sacrifice almost all other economic goals to meet this target.” The article goes on to argue that the ECB should increase its inflation target to 3-4% in […]

by Mike Kimel Howard Hill on has been arguing with gold bugs: I know that some readers are going to say “Wait. The gold market is saying inflation, not deflation.” That’s not how I see it. I see the negative real rate on cash parked in T-bills (three month yield 0%, 12 month yield 0.08%) […]

The Washington Post points us to a thought that needs to be included in public debate. (h/t Stormy) Corporations pushing for job-creation tax breaks shield U.S.-vs.-abroad hiring data Some of the country’s best-known multi­national corporations closely guard a number they don’t want anyone to know: the breakdown between their jobs here and abroad. So secretive […]