rdan This chart from Calculated Risk shows the surplus and deficit as a per centage of GDP since 1960. Howard Rich mentioned in his post that the deficit was a function of “the leak in demand of the American economy.” Juan reminds us that China is not a passive player to our ‘demand’ pull’. Juan […]

rdan I will put up two open threads for a little while to see what happens since I am averse to censoring. The first is Open thread with GW, the other Open thread w/out GW. The latter could be about economics of some kind. This is the one without, since we put up the other […]

rdan Re-posted with permission from the author. Trade deficits resume upward climbHoward Richman The US trade statistics for April were just reported yesterday. The US trade deficits, overall, went up for the second month in a row, despite a continuing decline in both imports and exports. The largest component of our trade deficits continues to […]

rdan Linda Beale writes some thoughts on public plans for health care and points us to Ezra Klein and Robert Reich. Update: Singapore is returned to comments. Going to ataxingmatter is worth the time, as Klein and Reich summarize public plans being put out there.

rdan Square footage or even volume Per Capita/house is a measurement of what? Taking part in the comment conversation on a couple of posts I have written led me to consider the way we think about home size. Typically, as one reader complained, homes are merely judged by their square footage and disregard the number […]

rdan Micahel Winship in Perspective asks: And remember Halliburton, the international energy services company of which Cheney used to be the CEO? After the fall of Baghdad, Halliburton and its then-subsidiary KBR were the happy recipients of billions of dollars in outside contracts to take care of the military and rebuild Iraq’s petroleum industry. Waste, […]

lifted from comments, written by reader Jack Tom said: “Some of the reported sales methods sound like they’re somewhere between ‘bullshit promises’ and mild deception. Then again, it’s car dealers on the other end of the transactions.” “I probably shouldn’t underestimate Congress’s inclination to protect those undeserving of protection, but remember these are car salesmen, […]

by reader ilsm A lot of debate going on about the 2010 defense budget in general and the national missile defense programs in specific. The administration is cutting the star war fantasy drill by $1.6B from what some think was needed. I found a quote Center for Defense information from a Lt Gen Campbell: “On […]

rdan Bears will be tackling different aspects of the debate, one of which is the Mass Health Plan (watching Kennedy’s office) and other states. Basic plans and costs, decreasing the numbers of uninsured, dealing with the cost structures and power centers in the state, quality of care and such will be examined. Below is one […]