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

Since when is outsourcing a form of automation?

by Stormylifted from an e-mail The difference between automation and outsourcing becomes stylistically blurred in this NYT’s piece: During the recession, domestic manufacturers appear to have accelerated the long-term move toward greater automation, laying off more of their lowest-skilled workers and replacing them with cheaper labor abroad. Since when is outsourcing a form of automation? […]

Paul Clement, In Appreciation

by Beverly Mannoriginally posted at the Annarborist Paul Clement, In Appreciation Each year as the Supreme Court’s term ends in late June, Slate’s main legal-issues writer, Dahlia Lithwick joins with Walter Dellinger, head of mega law firm O’Mebeny & Meyers’ national appellate practice, and a former head of the Office of Legal Counsel in the […]

HEALTH CARE: Mrs. Rustbelt is Grouchy

by Tom aka Rusty Rustbelt HEALTH CARE: Mrs. Rustbelt is Grouchy Mrs. Rustbelt (aka the world’s great nurse) is a paragon of competence, compassion, service and self-sacrifice. When grandma is ill you want Mrs. R to be granny’s nurse. She routinely gets letters and call from families praising her work, and this is the only […]

Links Worth Noting at CBPP: more on causes of deficit and increases in income inequality

by Linda Bealecrossposted with Ataxingmatter Some Links Worth Noting at CBPP–causes of deficit, increases in income inequality Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Where Today’s Large Deficits Come From Amidst all the renewed talk about budget deficits, it’s important to remind ourselves what caused the signficiant expansion of the deficit. As I’ve noted, it can […]

The Supreme Court’s Decision in In re Bilski:: does it allow tax patents or not?

by Linda Bealecrossposted with Ataxingmatter The Supreme Court’s Decision in In re Bilski:: does it allow tax patents or not? The Supreme Court handed down its decision in Bilski Monday, holding, as almost everyone had predicted, that the hedging process that was the subject of the Bilski claim was unpatentable. Download Bilski at SCOTUS 08-964. […]

Taxes and Private Sector Investment – Evidence from the Real World

by Mike KimelCross-posted on the Presimetrics blog. Taxes and Private Sector Investment – Evidence from the Real WorldLast week I had a post (which appeared both here and at Angry Bear). The post included the following graph: Figure 1 The graph looks at every eight year period since 1929 (the first year for which National […]

A Caveat, Walter Dellinger

by Beverly Mannoriginally posted at The Annarborist A Caveat, Walter Dellinger “In Skilling (ably explained by Paul’s posting), my law firm colleagues pressed the argument that the statutory crime of denying anyone of the “intangible right of honest services” was unconstitutionally vague unless it was sharply limited to bribery and kickbacks. Given that the honest-services […]