Brad DeLong and Paul Krugman are having a mini debate on whether Brad et al (that means the Clinton administration) had good reason to fear bond vigilantes in the 90s. Krugman wrote tht they did not.* Krugman phrases Brad’s argument as high deficits cause high inflation which causes tight money. He notes that the […]
We have got to calm down and not take tragedies like this, crimes like this, and use them for political purposes. — Grover Norquist, yesterday I agree. We also shouldn’t, say, take tragedies like the hijacking of four commercial planes and deliberately crashing them into huge buildings with large numbers of people inside them, and […]
NRA campaigns to bring a gun to work should be remembered: Actually, the NRA’s power has been waning since at least 2005 when it declared a boycott against ConocoPhillips, a major Oklahoma employer with 3,000 workers, for blocking its bring-your-gun-to-work efforts. “ConocoPhillips went to federal court to attack your freedom,” thundered Wayne LaPierre, NRA executive […]
There is still a lot of headline material concerning the role of guns in our lives, and a lot of anecdotal material and thoughts abound. Also I seem to note an increase in the reporting of police in Lakewood, Washington and firemen in Webster, NY murders by gun makes the news as well. We are […]
The other day I looked at number of guns versus number of gun deaths by country, in countries like ours that have pretty good rule of law. The correlation is pretty clear: more guns, more gun deaths. But I was also wondering about correlation within the U.S., by state. I’m pleased to find that Sam […]
House Republicans argue that voters handed their members a mandate as well, granting the party control of the House for another two years and with it the right to stick to their own views, even when they clash strongly with the president’s. And many Republicans remember well when the tables were turned. After Mr. Bush’s […]
When I was eighteen years old, I went down to the government office in Olympia, Washington with my friend Steve (no, not that Steve) and signed as the character witness on his application for a concealed carry permit for his handgun. I was probably stoned at the time; I often was back then. (FYI, I […]
The economic policies proposed for states by the conservative American Legislative Council Exchange (ALEC) not only don’t work, but carry risks for states’ economies, according to new research by the Iowa Policy Project and Good Jobs First. As we have seen most recently with Michigan’s passage of anti-union so-called “right to work” legislation (which lets […]
This video featuring Bruce Bartlett and Yves Smith on Overhyping the Fiscal Cliff is worth watching. Independent political and economic analysts Bruce Bartlett and Yves Smith join Bill in a discussion that’s become as rare as it is necessary — why are Washington insiders talking about the deficit crisis and not the jobs crisis? Bartlett, […]