Stan Collender notes that, for the first time in four years, the U.S. Treasury reported a surplus in the month of April. It isn’t just that there was a surplus in April of 2008, though. If you look back through Aprils (data here), the last time that month showed a deficit is 1983—the April less […]
…I would not be likely to find them. But at least I know how to look. Start at the macro level and see if there is a noticeable shift in revenues: Source: BEA I decided that anything that didn’t have at least a 0.3% change in its effect on GDP over three years could not […]
by Mike Kimel In my lifetime, the following Presidents have run for re-election: Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, GHW Bush, Clinton, GW Bush, and now, Obama. What is striking about this list is that of this crowd, only three: Nixon, Reagan and Clinton appeared to be at all successful by the time they started running for […]
Note: This post originally appeared, in slightly different form, at the author’s personal blog, Diogenes of Brooklyn. It appears here with that blogger’s kind permission. He does talk in the third person sometimes. by Diogenes of Brooklyn Like most Americans, Diogenes knows nothing of economics and finance. But quite a lot about the ways that […]
by Mike Kimel Update …Since this post has gotten a lot of attention, jump here for myfinal word on this topic. I’m sure I’m missing something here, because Paul Krugman is so often extremely perceptive, but I think here he is very, very wrong. He writes: The naive (or deliberately misleading) version of Fed policy […]
My mobile just got a call from a robotic “Amy” asking me to take a 30-second survey about “the nation’s debt crisis.” Since I don’t live in Greece and could care less about the magazine, I figured they had a wrong number and hung up.
until 3:00pm EDT. Link is here.
Today’s FT (front page, below the fold*) declares that Mark Carney “has been informally approached as a candidate” to head the Bank of England “in June next year.” He is currently governor of the Bank of Canada. It would be a good choice. As the speeches at the link above note, Carney is no fool, […]
by Mike Kimel From an article in the NY Times: Politicians sometimes say that lower tax rates lead to higher economic growth, which in turn leads to higher overall tax revenue. This may have been true in the early 1960s, when the top tax rate was 91 percent, but the top tax rate today is […]
One of the nice things about the Kauffman Foundation’s Blogger Conference is the time to let the mind wander and look at data after having your brain scoured. One of the worst things is realizing too late that you’ve got a Really Ugly Graphic, and most of the people who could help with it are […]