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

Not business but finance models

Financialized business models sticks to faith based “Market knows best” rule. …The number of MBAs graduating from America’s business schools has skyrocketed since the 1980s. But over that time, the health of American business has decreased by many metrics: corporate R&D spending, new business creation, productivity, and the level of public trust in business in […]

R and D

Angry Bear has over the years described the Pharma industry and its spending on Rand D and stock buybacks, among other developments in comparing US health outcomes to other countries. Via New York Times discussing this study at Ineteconomics. US Pharma’s Financialized Business Model JUL 2017 | Price gouging in the US pharmaceutical drug industry […]

It’s the Debt, Stupid

Dan here…another post by Steve Why Tyler Cowen Doesn’t Understand the Economy: It’s the Debt, Stupid Steve Roth | November 16, 2015 In a recent post Tyler Cowen makes an admirable effort to lay out his overarching approach to thinking about macroeconomics, revealing the assumptions underlying his understanding of how economies work. (Even more salutary, […]

Nation “Too Broke” for Universal Healthcare to Spend $406 Billion More on F-35

Nation “Too Broke” for Universal Healthcare to Spend $406 Billion More on F-35 (Photo: Forsvarsdepartementet/flickr/cc) The nation’s most expensive weapons program isn’t done showing U.S. taxpayers how much it will ultimately cost them, with Bloomberg reporting Monday that the F-35 fighter jet budget is now predicted to jump by a cool $27 billion. “Think about […]

A thought for Sunday: Trump voters and the “peasant mentality”

A thought for Sunday: Trump voters and the “peasant mentality” I am currently reading a comprehensive tome on 19th century European history, “The Pursuit of Power,” by Richard J. Evans. One episode that made a big impression on me was the decision by Otto von Bismarck (no conservative he) upon the establishment of the German […]

Former Ohio official who accidentally released Social Security numbers is on Trump’s voter fraud panel

Former Ohio official who accidentally released Social Security numbers is on Trump’s voter fraud panel LA TImes reports: The Republican gubernatorial primary was just weeks away, and then-Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell had his sights set on securing the nomination. Blackwell had served as mayor of Cincinnati and state treasurer before becoming Ohio’s top […]

How Perfect Markets Concentrate Wealth and Strangle Growth and Prosperity

by Steve Roth (Lifted from Asymptosis) How Perfect Markets Concentrate Wealth and Strangle Growth and Prosperity June 5th, 2016 Capitalism concentrates wealth. Ridicule Marx and his latter-day disciples all you like (I’ll help); he definitely got that right. But capitalism is a big word with lots of meanings, and enough ideological baggage to fill a […]

Morals and income

Via Brad DeLong comes two posts with observations that add to the discussion on our observations of the economic conditions driven by human nature: Figure 1 Paul Krugman points us to this notion: Should-Read: Paul Krugman (2015): WHEN VALUES DISAPPEAR: “Back in the 60s and 70s… there was much talk about the disintegration of… African-American […]