(cross posted from Daily Kos Social Security Defenders Group)There are three prevalent myths about the assets in Social Security Trust Funds, plural because there are two of them OAS-Old/Age Survivors and DI-Disability Insurance. The first myth, which comes mostly from the Right, is that those assets are just ‘Phony IOUs’. The second myth comes mostly […]

By Daniel Becker This is a bit of an interlude in my writing regarding the income tax of yore. Though, this does involve taxation. This is also a continuation in my postings regarding real world small business experiences. Yes, you are going to get to read about a real situation that involves a real small […]

Buy Greek bonds. I am very suspicious of proposals that the Fed do more to save the economy which do not specify what. They seem to be based on the idea that expanding Fed liabilities would be useful no matter what assets the Fed buys. I am convinced that Fed purchases are useful if and […]

I won’t be saying anything publicly about this one. (Cue sighs of relief from ignorant economists.) Kid Dynamite will.

by Mike Kimel Following a merger, a few months ago I took a severance package from my most recent employer. Put another way, I became unemployed. I started looking for another job but without much luck. In the last few weeks, I’ve also started doing some consulting work with two clients. Its been sporadic but […]

Health Care Thoughts: Please do everything you can…. …. to keep mom/dad alive. Physicians and nurses often dread these conversations. Any of us who have been on the family side of this know how agonizing it can be. And I know even mentioning this can cause a firestorm. However, there are some unsettling issues raised […]

In August real average hourly earnings fell fell -0.6% as nominal wages fell -0.1% and the CPI rose a stronger than expected 0.4%. On a year-over-year basis real average hourly and weekly earnings are down -2.4%. With real wages falling so steeply no wonder the retail sales report was weaker than expected.I continue to stick […]

by Mike Kimel Speaking Engagement If anyone is in the Akron, Ohio area and has any interest, I will be giving a guest lecture at David Cohen’s American Presidency class on Monday Sept. 19. The class runs from 12:05-12:55 in Leigh Hall 510. I’ll be talking about Presimetrics, the book I co-authored with Michael Kanell. […]

by Rebecca Wilder I present some basic statistics to highlight the problem in Europe. In short, there exists a deleterious positive feedback loop between overly leveraged banks and their sovereigns in key markets. Exhibit 1: European Banks are overly levered. Spanning 2006 through the latest data point, key European banking systems – France, Germany, and […]