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

The Phantom Menace

Robert Waldmann The one by Paul Krugman is a must read. what I hear is that officials don’t trust the demand for long-term government debt, because they see it as driven by a “carry trade”: financial players borrowing cheap money short-term, and using it to buy long-term bonds. [skip] the remedy should be financial, not […]

Quantitative Easing

Robert Waldmann Can the Fed do any more to stimulate the economy ? The question is back. The answer is only by making credible promises about the fairly distant future. My view is that this means no. I review the issue after the jump. Long ago Paul Krugman proposed that the Bank of Japan target […]

I Blame This on the NHL

With all the talk of “Detroit,” you would think that Michigan would have lost the most employees, as a percentage of same, on the year. After all, the scariest graph of the U.S. MSAs isn’t scary for nothing. But the Regional and State Employment data is out for October (h/t CR), and there’s a different […]

Agribusiness, Food, Vegetarianism—-and Taxes

[cross-posted on ataxingmatter–see posting there for additional comments] As some of you may know, I am one of the many people who eat a vegetarian diet. I don’t eat cows, pigs, fish, whales, sharks, chicken, turkey, sheep, wild game, tame game… As I sometimes say when people ask me about my diet, I eat everything […]

Heath Care Reform– Looking at the Glass Half-Full

Rdan (Run 75441…h/t) Maggie Mahar writes an essay that is now cross posted at Angry Bear with the author’s permission: Health Beat, a Project of the Century Foundation;November 4, 2009 Heath Care Reform– Looking at the Glass Half-Full What Has Been Accomplished; What Still Must Be Done These days, many progressives are expressing deep disappointment […]

Top down or bottom up models….useful thoughts

Rdan Hat tip to Economist’s View for the post from Top-down versus bottom-up macroeconomics, by Paul De Grauwe, Commentary, Vox EU for starting an interesting conversation on macro that I think is very relevant to the public story we tell ourselves about how our economy works. One key point is the nature of central planning […]