There’s no question that the Affordable Care Act’s rollout has been “rocky,” to borrow the common parlance of the Beltway. The Web site troubles and shifting health coverage for some Americans, despite over-assurances from President Obama during the 2010 political debate, have naturally turned off some people. A much-ballyhooed poll from CNN yesterday shows that […]
What to Do When a High-Profile U.Chicago Economist Says the Airline, Telephone and Package-Shipping Industries Prohibit Use by Preexisting Flyers, Callers and Shippers: If you’re a liberal, take this ball and run with it!
Krugman is dancing around a root cause… labor share
Paul Krugman is developing the ideas to understand one of the root causes of the economic problems. His present line of logic leads to understanding the effective demand constraint upon output. He writes… “Profits took a hit during the financial crisis, but have soared since then, and are now 60 percent above pre-crisis levels; meanwhile […]
Pet Industry Figures
Via American Pet Products comes these figures on yearly expenditures for product and care of our pets, in the range of over $53 billion a year lately. It doesn’t look like that includes dog walking. Pet Industry Market Size & Ownership Statistics U.S. Pet Industry Spending Figures & Future Outlook The following spending statistics are […]
Merry Christmas and Holidays
Merry Christmas and Holidays from the Bears to our readers.
A Story at Christmas time
by Rev. Nathan Detering (Unitarian Universalist Church at First Parish Sherborn, MA) Once upon a time in those days after Thanksgiving when Rt. 9 is transformed from its normal craziness into something like a hornet’s nest after you poke it with a stick,there was a minister, a pastor, who thought it was a good idea […]
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON SOCIAL SECURITY
by Dale Coberly SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON SOCIAL SECURITY HOW THE “COMMITTEE FOR A RESPONSIBLE FEDERAL BUDGET” LIES TO YOU A group that calls itself “Committee For A Responsible Federal Budget” wrote what it claims to be “Setting the Record Straight on Social Security.” The article needs to be responded to at some length, […]
Preliminary sign of a coming contraction
Enjoy this Christmas because next year Christmas may not be as Merry… As real GDP nears the effective demand limit, we should see some signs of the economy turning the corner toward a contraction. So, do we see any signs? … Well, yes. This graph plots the aggregate profit rate against the savings rate of […]
Jared Bernstein’s “new normal” potential GDP is similar
Today Jared Bernstein published a graph with a red line representing a new normal for potential GDP. I was surprised because the line looks very similar to the line I have been publishing for months for effective demand. Mr. Bernstein does not give an equation for his line, but only a definition… “The other two […]
Taxes And Income Distribution: The Way It Was And The Way It Is
Via Econospeak Barkley Rosser ponders taxes and distribution: Taxes And Income Distribution: The Way It Was And The Way It Is Got invited on to the local TV station today to discuss income distribution thanks to the recent statements about the matter by President Obama and Pope Francis, only to upset the local anchorman by telling […]