A really well done basic reading of the employment to population ratio is done by Bill McBride at Calculated Risk, and includes a mention of Paul Krugman’s article on the same topic. It is best to pay a visit to follow the reasoning and the detail involved. The implications are certainly also worth exploring.

Mike Konzcal reviews Lost Decades by Menzie Chin and Jeffrey Friedan at New Deal 2.0: What caused the housing bubble? This is a different, though related, question from what caused the collapse of the financial sector or why unemployment is sky-high right now. Why did housing value skyrocket and then collapse? More broadly, why did […]

A few thoughts from a friend of mine and an introduction from a movie I (run75441) watch each year. “I don’t need 24 hours. I don’t have to talk to anybody. I know right now, and the answer’s no. No! Doggone it! You sit around here and you spin your little webs and you think […]

Newt Gingrich tells the truth. “the individual mandate was originally developed by the Heritage Foundation and others, as a way to block Hillarycare.” Firebaggers argue that the PPACA is conservative, because it is similar to a Heritage Foundation proposal. They neglect to note that the proposal was made in bad faith. The point was to […]

From Boston.com comes news of: Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is suing five major US banks for allegedly seizing properties unlawfully and failing to help struggling borrowers keep their homes by lowering mortgage payments. The civil lawsuit — filed yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court — targets Bank of America Corp.,Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase […]

Brad DeLong (pulled from an otherwise-spot-on post): Two years ago, after all, the recession was over. The Recovery: I started these from the first month after NBER’s recession end date. Note that there is one true, consistent growth line—sadly, that’s the mean (average) duration of Unemployment. If this is victory, Pyrrhus of Epirus had nothing […]

The employment report continues to report a sluggish economy and employment growth. The payroll report showed a gain of 120,000 jobs in November, consisting of a 140,000 gain in private payrolls and a 20,000 drop in government employment. The household survey months showed the stronger gains it has in recent with a gain of some […]

[Update…Taryn Hart at the Plutocracy Files has a daily OWS blog with news & videos from around the country, and has also done a number of interviews with economists & other left luminaries, including dean baker, larry mishel, john quiggin, jeff madrik, et al, with more coming…hat tip reader rjs] In noting other OWS scenarios […]

Mike’s response to a short note from me I lifted and summarized from an advertisement/advice for investors on Brazil. Mike’s response below the fold: Today, Brazil moved aggressively to ensure that the widening global financial crisis will not reach its shores, taking several measures to stimulate consumption and investment in the world’s seventh largest economy. […]