I had my hair cut last week.  It’s a big event as it happens about twice per year.  While there I always get into political conversations with the lady cutting my hair.  This time, as often it was the economy.  Her position still is that the individual citizens collecting welfare are effecting her income.  We’ve […]

Or: Thinking About Periods and Lags No need to rehash this cock-up, except to point to the utterly definitive takedown by Arindrajit Dube over at Next New Deal (hat tip: Krugman), and to point out that the takedown might just take even if you’re looking at R&R’s original, skewed data. But a larger point: I frequently see econometrics like R&R’s, comparing […]

Lynne Kiesling writes Farm subsidies and entrenched wealth at Knowledge Problem: Veronique de Rugy has a great argument for ending farm subsidies in the April issue of Reason (and yes, do read the whole thing, well worth your time). Farm subsidies are the canonical example of the dynamics of Mancur Olson’s Logic of Collective Action […]

by Linda Beale Doggett fighting for fairness on Tax Day! On Monday, Congressman Lloyd Doggett, a long-time member of the House Ways and Means Committee, releases a GAO report showing the continued advance of corporate tax expenditures that allow corporations to pay little or no taxes year after year. “Of the many Americans who are […]

by Linda Beale Senator Warren prods bank regulators Somehow, more Senators need to start doing what Senator Warren does.  Review the facts.  Ask questions that force regulators to admit to what they are doing.  Point out the lopsided nature of the regulators’ activities that demonstrate that they are acting more to protect the Big Banks […]

With constant delays due to significant engineering issues and design flaws, the cost of the F-35 has risen to $395.7 billion. But that’s just to build the planes. When you add in the cost of testing, operations and support, it will cost an additional $1.1 trillion — bringing the overall price tag to an incomprehensible […]

by Linda Beale Obama caves yet again: offering Social Security cuts to appease the right… Obama’s budget isn’t even released yet and he’s already caving to the “let’s make the rich richer and forget the rest” crowd.  That crowd that claims that we need a capital gains preference so the rich can gather all that […]

by run75411 Re-posted from New Agenda April 2009, Bill reminds us of some of the history leading up to today: Editor’s note: We are pleased to present this guest post by Bill H, who’s known around the internet as run75441, and who can usually be found writing in his area of expertise: finance. Recently, Stanford Magazine […]

We’ve all talked and read about the idea and practice of offshore accounting to reduce taxation. Here is an article produced by a show called Backlight.  Backlight appears to be a news journal show in the idea of Frontline by a Dutch public broadcasting organization known as VPRO. This episode is titled: The Tax FreeTour.  […]

by Linda Beale Addressing TBTF with tax and other policy: because “Big Banks Go Wrong, Pay Little Price” The New York Times today reiterated what many Americans lament–Big Banks went uncharged for serving as the main engine of the Great Recession that cost ordinary Americans jobs, homes and futures.  See Andrew Ross Sorkin, Big Banks […]