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

US Postal Management’s Dysfunctional and Failing Culture

by: Mark Jamison; A retired Postmaster having served the town and community of Webster, N.C. Mark can also be read on Save The Post Office, a blog discussing the state of the USPS. “In the following weeks, Mr. Green would go on to scream at me, ALL YOU ARE IS A LIABILITY, YOU EXIST ONLY […]

The Halbig Subpoena. Oh, the Fright!

Last week, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform subpoenaed documents from the Treasury Department and IRS that could have a huge impact on Pruitt v. Burwell, Halbig v. Burwell, King v. Burwell, and Indiana v. IRS – four lawsuits that could have a huge impact on ObamaCare. Those cases challenge the federal government’s ability to implement the Patient Protection and Affordable […]

Liberal Economists: Don’t Bring a Knife to a Gunfight

Jared Bernstein has offered a muscular and cogent response to my recent take-down of his CAP paper on inequality and growth. (I called it “week-kneed.”) I’d like to respond to his many excellent points in just two ways. 1. My critique is primarily of his rhetoric, not his reasoning. Progressives, IMO, should be shouting the manifest reality […]

Lefty – Libertarian Cage Fight! Get Out the Popcorn…

Matt Bruenig and Demos have thrown down the gauntlet against libertarian ideology. Trevor Burrus at Cato has picked it up. Should be worth tuning in. Matt pulls no punches. He’s emerged in the last year as one of the mediasphere’s most convincing voices for progressive ideas and policies, based (IMO) on air-tight arguments and thinking, backed by solid, well-presented facts and […]

Contra Jared Bernstein: Stagnation, Spending, and The Velocity of Wealth — Five Graphs

I’ve said many times: every economic assertion should be preceded by the words “by this measure.” For big economic questions, you need to look at lots of different measures, lots of different way, to get a feel for what’s going on. This has come home to me as I’ve considered Jared Bernstein’s ongoing takedown of […]

"In theory GDP growth could continue indefinitely – if it weren’t linked to something real."

Dan here…Via Sandwichman at Econospeak comes William Rees’s response to Paul Krugman’s post on “the prophets of climate despair”: “In theory GDP growth could continue indefinitely – if it weren’t linked to something real.” William Rees, who along with Mathis Wackernagel developed Ecological Footprint analysis, commented on Paul Krugman’s flippant slur on “degrowth” as an […]

Other calls for carbon pricing

Dan here…I am no expert of the in and outs of private money moving to renewable strategies instead of relying on fossil fuels. The branding of climate change activism as demonstrated by the march in New York City and the move to “divest, reinvest” movement of money has begun to gain more momentum. sort of […]

Charles Evans, Normalization of the Policy Rates & the 2011 Eurozone Recession

In a speech this week, the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Charles Evans, made a case for keeping the effective Fed rate low well into the foreseeable future. He concluded… “To summarize, I am very uncomfortable with calls to raise our policy rate sooner than later. I favor delaying liftoff until I […]

Iceland: Bankers convicted, unemployment down

Remember Iceland? During the high-flying early 2000s, its three main banks went berserk, paying high interest rates to international investors that accumulated deposits equal to more than 100% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and making loans equal to 980% of GDP. When the collapse came, Iceland took a route not taken by Ireland, […]