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

When Strawmen Collide: Biggs v Lind

by Bruce Webb Michael Lind wrote an interesting article for Salon that was picked up by the New America Foundation under the snappy title Let’s Cut Social Security to Pay for Banker Bailouts!. In it he outlines arguments that will be familiar to followers of Angry Bear’s Social Security coverage, notably pointing out the ‘message’ […]

"Banks Just Don’t Go Under"

Did no one in Georgia pay attention in the 1980s? It’s not just reputations that are on the line. Board members, also known as directors, could be held personally liable for a bank’s demise. Experts are expecting a wave of lawsuits against directors to be filed in Georgia over the next year or two as […]

CIA briefings question is clever

rdan Check 0:25 for information on Bob Graham’s briefingCheck 2:50 for information on WMD briefing at about the same timeCheck 3:50 for information on Bob Graham’s now notable notebook system and inaccuracies in briefing dates (3 of 4 mentioned to him never occurred on those dates). A better question to pursue is not to discuss […]

More than numbers and sanctity of bonus contracts

rdan Middle aged men and pensions in the industries. Much wealth has vanished…I notice a lot of apathy among employees such as teachers whose state plans have not declared losses yet except generally. The MA plan declared a 29% “loss” in value, but I have yet to see a clear statement about what the “loss” […]

DI Trigger: Fixing what is broken in Social Security

post by Bruce Webb data by Dale Coberly For those following along. Recent numbers from CBO and now from Social Security show that the DI (Disability Insurance) component of Social Security is officially broken, it failed the test for Short Term Actuarial Balance last year. And when combined with the OAS component brought Trust Fund […]

Undercover in Burma

rdan Undercover in Burmaby Michael Perelman My former student, Ryan Libre, snuck into Burma to meet with the Kachin Independence Army. He is one of my favorite students, even though he has a long-standing incomplete in one of my classes. Our local weekly has a short story about his work. http://www.newsreview.com/chico/content?oid=980928 I had to simply […]

Sky is not falling on Social Security

The above table is from the National Academy of Social Insurance’s (NASI) Social Security Brief: Social Security Finances: Findings of the 2009 Trustees Report, a valuable summary from a group broadly supportive of traditional Social Security. If Social Security really was in a serious crisis you would expect the right hand column to show steady […]