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

Consumers’ (accurate) bifurcated take on the economy – and why that isn’t good for Democrats

(Dan here.  The last graph is an eye opener) by New Deal democrat  (originally published at the Bonddad blog) Consumers’ (accurate) bifurcated take on the economy – and why that isn’t good for Democrats Naked Capitalism picked up a piece from Wolf Richter the other day entitled  The shrinking piece of a barely growing economy: […]

The Silence of the Lambs

Update appended. ___ Last week, dozens of Republican volunteers packed Mr. Gardner’s campaign offices in the college towns of Boulder and Fort Collins to get a handshake or selfie with the amped-up candidate. Spotting a boy in a Denver Broncos football jersey, Mr. Gardner whipped out his cellphone and showed him a photo of John […]

PART TIME EMPLOYMENT

The opponents of Obama-care just will not give up. Just because all of their claims of disaster over the last few years have been proven wrong they continue to repeat every claims that they think does not make them look foolish. The latest example is John R. Graham of the Independent Institute who claims that […]

How to deal with the growing incentives competition

This article was originally published in the Columbia FDI Perspectives series of the Columbia Center for Sustainable Investment, #131, September 29. I have left it largely unchanged, except for adding a link and a comment, and correcting a grammatical error.   As I discussed in an earlier Perspective,[1] the use of investment incentives is pervasive […]

Scott Brown Solves the Mystery of What All Those Mega-Corporations Are Doing With Their Record Profits

They’re spending it on lawyers! I’m not kidding.  Brown told a 27-year-old Fidelity Investments retirement specialist that big corporations can’t afford to hire people because they’re spending so much money on lawyers.  Which they have to do because of all those regulations.  Which is why he wants to “loosen regulations on big companies”: “So they […]

How Do Households Build Wealth? Probably Not the Way You Think. Three Graphs

Work hard. Save your money. Spend less than you earn. That’s how you become wealthy, right? That’s not totally wrong, but if you think that’s the whole story — or even a large part of the story — you may be surprised by this graph: (Note: these are not realized capital gains, which really only matter for tax […]

"Cake without Flour" — Duncan Foley on the Dilemmas of Economic Growth

by Sandwichman (at Econospeak) “Cake without Flour” — Duncan Foley on the Dilemmas of Economic Growth The following excerpt is from Duncan Foley’s outgoing Presidential Address to the Eastern Economics Association, “Dilemmas of Economic Growth,” presented March 9, 2012 (Reprinted by permission from Macmillan Publishers Ltd: Eastern Economic Journal (2012) 38, 283–295 published by Palgrave […]

Volatility in the Emerging Markets

by Joseph Joyce Volatility in the Emerging Markets Volatility has returned to the financial markets. Stock prices in the U.S. have fallen from their September highs, and the return on 10-year Treasury bonds briefly fell below 2%.  Financial markets in emerging markets have been particularly hard hit,. The Institute for International Finance estimates that $9 […]

Alison Lundergan Grimes vs. The Kentucky Newspaper Editorial Boards That Endorsed Her Today

Two major Kentucky newspapers have endorsed Alison Lundergan Grimes for Senate over incumbent Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R). The Courier-Journal and the Lexington Herald-Leader both ran editorials Sunday in support of the Democrat, who currently serves as Kentucky’s Secretary of State. In its endorsement, the Courier-Journal’s editorial board praised Grimes’ stance on issues like the minimum wage […]