While he (uncharacteristically) doesn’t explain or deploy it terribly well, Paul Krugman points to some very excellent research on the relationship between private debt levels and the depth and duration of (especially financial-crisis-driven) recessions. The Schularick/Taylor Vox EU article is here. The Jorda/Schularick/Taylor paper is here (PDF). I think the work is excellent in large […]
I was looking for something else, but in the latest poll the ARRA has become popular http://www.pollingreport.com/budget.htm United Technologies/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. Sept. 7-9, 2012. N=1,012 adults nationwide. Margin of error ± 3.7. Asked of those who have heard about the program:“From what you have seen or […]
by Kenneth Thomas Starbucks in Hot Water Over British Tax Reuters (via Tax Research UK) reported on October 15 the results of an extensive investigation into the British unit of coffee giant Starbucks, the second largest restaurant firm in the world after McDonald’s. It turns out that the company has reported losing money in every […]
Lifted from Robert Waldmann’s more private thoughts: I love this video. I agree that it is very odd for Romney to brag about balancing a budget with a 1.5 billion dollar federal bailout. But what exactly does it mean for a manager of a firm to balance a budget ? I’d say the very minimum […]
Via Economist’s View on reducing oil imports and energy independence for the US is reader Min’s proposal, which I have unabashedly stolen: For forty years politicians have been promising energy independence for the US. Forget it. It is not going to happen, at least not any time soon. Our best bet is to cut back […]
Via reader rjs news and Naked Capitalism comes this excerpt on income inequality and programs to address the issue: Bill Moyers: Plutocracy Rising – via Yves Smith – Bill Moyer’s latest show, with Matt Taibbi and and Chrystia Freeland, focuses on how the super rich have established a yawning chasm between themselves and ordinary Americans, both […]
The excellent Justin Fox makes the excellent point that I have made many times: that nobody in the ecosystem of publicly traded companies — including shareholders – is anything like a business owner. And no, the shareholders don’t own the corporation — they own securities that give them a not very well-defined stake in its […]
Via Truthout comes this report from PR Watch: In a new lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), big energy extractors are pushing for carte blanche in their interactions with foreign governments, making it harder to track whether their deals are padding the coffers of dictators, warlords, or crony capitalists. The United States Chamber of […]
Real News carries The Black Financial and Fraud Report with Bill Black, reminds us this election has many issues that we need to remind politicians to tackle: And what did the—finally, the numbers that just came in in the New York Times article very recently that showed that—in the first year of recovery from the recession, which was […]
by Linda Beale Another Court Strikes Down DOMA The Second Circuit ruled on Thursday on the estate tax case involving the legality of DOMA–Windsor v. United States (or in the long form–Windsor, executor of the Estate of Spyer, v. United States). Readers may recall this as a case in which a group of members of […]