by Rebecca Wilder I Still Don’t Get Why the ECB Hiked Rates I still don’t get why the ECB hiked rates in April and July of 2011. I questioned this using bond market pricing back in August 2011. Now I question it once more using the ex post trajectory of mortgage rates. Across the Euro […]
The President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia: We have been putting out credit in a period of depression, when it is not wanted and could not be used, and will have to withdraw credit when it is wanted and can be used. But this is not Charles I. Plosser, no matter how similar […]
We’ve already seen in previous installments of this series that since about 1980, I: corporate profits have soared, II: the slice of profits going to finance has soared even more, and III: wages have stagnated. Here we see what corporations have done with all that money. There is a limited selection set: pay taxes, distribute […]
by Rebecca Wilder Temporary Employment: A New Ugly Rearing its Head in Europe? Last week Clive Crook opined on some fallacies of labor reform, specifically related to the unions and through the Spanish experience. Labor reform is a highly contentious subject, given its close ties to welfare and politics. Based on Clive Crook’s article, I […]
With apologies to Stan Collender’s Beautiful and Talented Wife (not to mention mine): James had gathered a mix of friends, acquaintances, and random strangers at his Rent Party, but no one was talking to anyone else. So he decided to get people to talk to each other, using the easiest non-visible variable available: “Don, what’s […]
David Frum was excommunicated from the Righties Club a few years back because he insisted on occasionally saying sane and accurate things. He continues that aberrational behavior today in his review of AEI uber-zealot Charles Murray’s new book, Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010 (which I will not link to here — no […]
by Rebecca Wilder Which Economy Is Pursuing Procyclical Fiscal Policy? Today the BLS reported that the US unemployment rate dropped to 8.3% in January 2012. This is the lowest measured rate since February 2009 – a local trough. Also this week, Eurostat reported that the Euro area (EA) unemployment rate stabilized in December at 10.4%. […]
Taxprofblog points to research suggesting a tipping point about the notion that small businesses drive the economy: Martin A. Sullivan (Tax Analysts), New Research Weakens Case for Small Business Tax ReliefThe National Federation of Independent Business states on its website: “Small business has created about two of every three net new jobs in the United […]
by Linda Beale Why we don’t need corporate tax “overhaul” GOP poormouthing on behalf of rich corporate allies(Part I in a series) These days, one hears a great deal from politicians on the right about how a corporate tax “overhaul” is needed because our taxes are “too complex” and/or “too anti-competitive” or because our tax […]
‘Bank Transfer Day’, What Really Just Happened? James Van Dyke points to some numbers on the move to transfer funds out of big banks: Bank Transfer Day and the Occupy Movement have received tremendous attention, and for the first time we have market research data to measure the impact on the financial services industry. Javelin’s […]