PGL at Econospeak points us to Charles Riley of CNNMoney has a must see graph showing how defense spending under Mitt Romney would compare to the current DOD baseline budget over the next decade. His title notes the spending over the next decade will exceed the baseline budget by more than $2 trillion. I like […]
by Linda Beale US inequality is getting worse The Congressional REsearch Service released a report in March showing that US inequality is getting worse. Linda Levine, US income distribution and mobility: trends and international comparisons, Congressional Research Service (Mar. 7, 2012). Here’s an excerpt from the summary provided in the report itself. Approaching three years […]
Salon points us to a primary reason public higher education tuition inflation has occurred that is left out of election rhetoric, more so than the suggested availability of Pell grants. And of course the selling of the need for one by us all. The problem: The word “public” doesn’t mean as much as it used […]
by Kenneth Thomas Leigh McIlvaine at Clawback reports that Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper has vetoed SB 124, a bill that would have expanded the use of sales tax for tax increment financing of tourist projects under the Regional Tourism Act. While subsidy reformers in the state have so far been able to defeat sales tax […]
by Linda Beale The worm in Apple (and the US tax code)–offshoring of US Profits Citizens for Tax Justice has focused on Apple’s ability to lower its US effective tax rate by offshoring its profits to tax havens. See, e.g., Robert McIntyre, What Apple Pays in Taxes and Doesn’t, NY Times Letters to the Editor, […]
by Mike Kimel Presidents, Congress, and Economic Growth – The Return of Presimetrics If you’re a regular reader, you may know that a couple of years ago, Michael Kanell of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and I had a book published called Presimetrics. Nobody much read the book, but we had a lot of fun writing it. […]
Financial Times takes a look at the question of how high profit margins are obtained in a high unemployment and high debt economy: The key to the first question is US profit margins, which are still at or around record highs. At some point, logic suggests they will start reverting to the mean. And, aside […]
by Noni MausaThe Mordant Litmus of Texas? The other day I was listening to a fascinating interview on US executions. “So far this year, 5 convicted criminals felt the executioner’sneedle. Michael Graczyk watched as they took their last breath. Thereporter from the Associated Press has witnessed more than 300executions. It’s believed he’s seen more men and […]
by Dale Coberly A kind person suggested I be ready to be crucified about calling for increasing a “regressive tax” if I call for raising the payroll tax forty cents per week. The people who say Social Security is a regressive tax are suffering from brain damage caused by parrot fever. Having been taught to […]