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

What it means to be a Conservative Economist Today

Bruce Bartlett posts a note that could have come from me (but, for reasons that will become obvious, did not: During the 8 Reagan years, when marginal [tax] rates were sharply cut (but deficits were substantial), equities on the NYSE and the S & P 500 about doubled. During the 4 Bush 41 years, when […]

Lender of Only Resort?

Ken Houghton, having realized there is still a Commercial Paper market, looks at one implication of it. One of the things that gets ignored in all the fussing about government debt is how small it is by comparison to corporate debt. The shortest-term debt, Commercial Paper, can be very interesting. With a maturity that is […]

Never Blame on Hyperoptimism what can be attributed to malfeisance

Dr. Black starts digging into the question why so many Georgia-based banks fail. The picture painted isn’t pretty: The review also contains a photo of a planned 238 townhouse project that the bank financed for $5.6 million in 2007 even as the real estate market was softening. By September 2008 about three quarters of the […]

A reader’s note

rdan Reader donald sent this note for consideration: Sunday night while slogging back up to Burlington from Hartford, CT (460 miles round trip as it turns out) we were listening to NPR. I didn’t think to make a note of what show, but it was discussing health care and brought up a point I wasn’t […]

Humor, grammar, and logic and wobegone attitudes

rdan This American Psychological Association study is a follow up to Robert’s Wobegone economics post. Taken from comments by reader rd. The abstract is quoted: People tend to hold overly favorable views of their abilities in many social and intellectual domains. The authors suggest that this overestimation occurs, in part, because people who are unskilled […]

Link worth noting is at Tax Prof Blog

by Linda Beale(cross posted from ataxingmatter) (Rdan: The link worth noting is Susan Altmeyer’s…the Journal opinion is simply misleading) Link worth noting : Wall St.Journal and Golf Carts Tax Prof noted the Wall Street Journal editorial titled Cash for Clubbers(Oct. 17, 2009), which suggests that “thanks to President Obama’s stimulus plan”, the government is now […]

Showdown in chicago

rdan Dean Baker suggests some action in the form of a demonstration at the Chicago Bankers Association meeting October 25-26, 2009. Yves at Naked Capistalism recommends going, and Slate open forum contains comments. Several readers who live in the region have indicated they will be going. Perhaps we will get reports. Do you think they […]