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

Efficiency wages, monopsony and labor demand

Again Krugman writes about something I know something about. This time I enthusiastically agree (yeah I know big surprise there). he noted that, in efficiency wage models, it can be relatively easy to convince firms to raise wages. His presentation is (as usual) extremely, brief, clear, unwonkish and excellent. Then he linked to Arindrajit Dube […]

What Worries Me Most About Clinton: That she may not have the intellectual capacity to discern even critically important distinctions. Including glaring ones.

Update appended, 6/13 at 12:42 p.m. —- “It should not take longer to start a business in America than it does in Canada or France. But that is the fact.” — Hillary Clinton, during a small business discussion, Cedar Falls, Iowa, May 19, 2015  Our antenna always goes up when a politician asserts a “fact.” […]

The Entire Population of Kansas Is About to Lose Its Liberty.

KANSAS CITY, Kan (Reuters) – While still unable to agree on a budget, Kansas lawmakers on Saturday averted a furlough of thousands of non-essential employees by passing a bill defining all employees as essential, officials said. Republican Governor Sam Brownback said in a statement posted on his website that he will sign the bill so […]

Rick Perry Says Social Security and Medicare Were Given to Us by God. Seriously. [Addendum added.]

The things we have in this country were given to us by God, not by government. — Perry: Government isn’t your savior, Nick Gass, Politico, today Social Security and Medicare were given to us by God?  Who knew? The highway system, sewer and water systems, airports and air traffic control, operation of shipping ports, public […]

Picking Up The Tab for Full Service Restaurants

In the news, great attention has been paid to the activities of fast food workers striking to increase their salary up from minimum wage, their plight with fast food restaurants, and their heavy reliance on public assistance to get-by. Included with fast restaurant workers whose employers are represented by the National Restaurant Association are full […]

New America Foundation: Let the Sins of Grad PLUS Loans Be Visited Upon IBR

Introduction I ran across Matt Leichter and the Law School Tuition Bubble blog while doing some research on the Koch Brothers cozening up to CAP after having seen Beth Akers and Matt Chingos write for Brookings a think tank which in the past has been careful about what type of funding it receives and from […]

Jeb Bush discovers a hypothetical he’s willing to address—and assures us that he, unlike Obama, would have ensured a second Great Depression. Jeb for President!

Questioned by a voter inside a sports bar about whether there is “space” between himself and his older brother on any issues, Bush offered a clear critique. “Are there differences? Yeah, I mean, sure,” Bush said. “I think that in Washington during my brother’s time, Republicans spent too much money. I think he could have […]

Why does Clinton’s senior policy adviser Jake Sullivan think liberals support bottlenecks for small business loans? And does Clinton REALLY think that if Corrections Corporation of America and its chief competitor (Marco Rubio’s tacit business partner, GEO) reduce their prices, mass incarceration should continue?

“People often talk about the electorate moving left,” said Clinton senior policy adviser Jake Sullivan. “I think it’s more that the electorate is just getting more practical. For Hillary Clinton, that matches her evidence-based approach. The arguments that persuade her are evidence-based and progressive.” He cited the growing consensus that mass incarceration is expensive and […]

Light Reading

– McDonalds turns 75 today, an empire of 36,000 restaurants in 199 countries. McDonalds is the largest buyer of beef, pork, potatoes, lettuce, and tomatoes globally and the second largest buyer of chicken after KFC. While faced with greater competition, McDonalds has started to revamp its offerings to recapture what it has lost and meet […]