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

Do Voters Who Want ‘Change’ Really Care More About the Age of the Candidate Than About the Age of the Candidate’s Ideas? REALLY?

The Marco Rubio debate moment that worries Democrats: When Marco Rubio cast the election as a ‘generational choice,’ he took a page out of the Obama playbook to portray himself as the candidate of future. It could work. — Title and subtitle of an article in today’s Christian Science Monitor, by Linda Feldman (via Yahoo Politics) […]

Forecasting the 2016 election economy: in which I respond to Nate Silver

-by New Deal democrat Forecasting the 2016 election economy: in which I respond to Nate Silver As you all know, I have been writing a series about “Forecasting the 2016 election economy.” In general, good economic conditions at election time usually mean the return of the incumbent party to the White House, while a recession […]

Forecasting the Presidential election: simply knowing whether the economy is expanding or in recession gives you the correct answer more than 2/3 of the time (Part 1)

by New Deal democrat Forecasting the Presidential election: simply knowing whether the economy is expanding or in recession gives you the correct answer more than 2/3 of the time If you want a quick and dirty guide to whether an incumbent political party will retain control of the White House in a Presidential election, simply […]

For Profit College, Student Loan Default, and the Economic Impact of Student Loans

For Profit Goes on Probation The University of Phoenix has been placed on probation by the Department of Defense preventing the university from recruiting on military bases. The probation comes after the Federal Trade Commission and the California Attorney General’s investigation into the University of Phoenix recruiting methods, its high costs, and the resulting poor […]

Are You a Liberal or a Conservative? Are You Sure?

(Dan here….perhaps food for thought on a Sunday) ​Scott Baker is a professor at the Henry George School, the State Coordinator of the NY Chapter of The Public Banking Institute,  and the author is America Is Not Broke! Are You a Liberal or a Conservative? Are You Sure? Quick, without looking at the answers – or at […]

FOLLOW-UP TO: “Instead of nominating Marco Rubio, the Republicans should just cut out the pretense and nominate his doppelgänger: Charlie McCarthy”

[Rubio] turned a question about his finances into an opportunity to retell his compelling family narrative, and then, into even sweeter lemonade: “I’m not worried about my finances, I’m worried about the finances of everyday Americans who today are struggling in an economy that is not producing good paying jobs while everything else costs more.” […]

Instead of nominating Marco Rubio, the Republicans should just cut out the pretense and nominate his doppelgänger: Charlie McCarthy

Bill Clinton had a line during his 1992 campaign that he said, mantra-like, so often in fact that eventually it lost its meaning and was just a cringe-inducing song-like chorus.  The line, the slogan, was, “People who work hard and play by the rules.”  It was—until he repeated it to a point well beyond when people […]

The decline in prime age labor participation: the smoking gun (Part 1of 2)

by New Deal democrat   (Bonddad blog) The decline in prime age labor participation: the smoking gun (Part 1of 2) I recently wrote about the compelling evidence that the biggest reason for the decline in the prime working age labor participation rate was the increase in the number of second-earner spouses who decided to stay […]

The mindless canard stating as unexplained fact that it would be worse to expand the federal government by a third in order to accommodate single-payer healthcare insurance than it is to have private, for-profit health insurance companies playing this role instead

No one would ever accuse Bernie Sanders of thinking small. The senator from Vermont and Democratic presidential candidate wants to transform one of the world’s most boisterous free-market economies into an exemplar ofScandinavian-style “democratic socialism.” He wants to jail Wall Street executives and double the minimum wage. And he wants to spend taxpayer money, lots of it. According to an estimate by The Wall […]