By Mike Kimel The Gold Index, April 1933 – February 1934, Courtesy of Scott Sumner I’ve been having a bit of a back and forth with Scott Sumner of The Money Illusion over the degree to which monetary policy, in particular the devaluation of the dollar, affected the economy in 1933. (My most recent post […]
by Linda Beale The Hill reports on “supercommittee Alexander Bolton reports that “With Supercommittee Deadlocked, leaders Reid and Boehner meet“, The Hill (Nov. 15, 2011). Reid (Dem) and Boehner (GOP) met Tuesday, but aides told The Hill that “They’re not about to dive in” to the negotiations. But as the committee seems to be at […]
by Mike Kimel Scaling to New Depths* with Scott Sumner I’ve been having a bit of back and forth with Scott Sumner. Here is his latest post, helpfully entitled: “A suggestion for Mike Kimel.” His key suggestion: “Please take a close look at the data from the Great Depression, before doing more posts claiming I […]
by Linda Beale GOP two-step approach problematic Discussion continued apace yesterday about the “supercommittee” and the idea of agreeing to agree someday on some revenue increases while going ahead with cuts. This approach is a terrible one since it gives the obstructionist GOP members just another setting in which to refuse to go ahead with […]
by Mike Kimel Scott Sumner Digs Deeper Scott Sumner criticizes my most recent post in which I indicate that Keynesian theory explains growth rates during the New Deal era better than theories proposed by monetarists. He starts by criticizing this, which I wrote in my earlier post. Aggregate demand was very slack when FDR took […]
by Linda Beale Super-Congress wants to have its cake and eat it too So the Democrats and Republicans on the so-called “Super-Committee” that is supposed to find $1.2 trillion in budget reductions/increased revenues within a week now thinks it has a solution–let the regular tax committees (Finance and Ways & Means) come up with the […]
by Linda Beale GOP wants to repeal Dodd-Frank: instead they should listen to Nassim Taleb Nassim Taleb, the author of the book on long-tail events, suggests in a Nov. 6, 2011 op-ed in the New York Times that “it is only a matter of time before private risktaking leads to another giant bailout like the […]
by Linda Beale The right’s smoke and mirrors scam about Social Security–it ain’t broke (unless China is too) We’ve noted in these postings the growing inequality between rich and the rest of us in America, and that is the appropriate backdrop against which to investigate further the right’s smoke-and-mirrors scams about tax policy and earned […]
By Linda Beale Infrastructure gamesmanship puts wealthy ahead of jobs, good bridges, and country For those who are paying attention to the House and Senate these days, it seems like a frustrating exercise. Mostly it is one of watching the “do-nothing” Republicans find excuses for never requiring millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share […]
by Linda Beale Nader Argues for a Financial Transactions Tax Ralph Nader provided an op-ed on the question of a financial transaction tax, “Time for a Tax on Speculation,” Wall St. Journal, A17 (Nov. 2, 2011). He ties the need for the tax as a curb to speculation to the growing concern among ordinary Americans […]