Came across a couple of videos. This first one is an issue of perspective on the thought of what is terroism or what is a terroist act. This second one is just plain funny (at least to me). It spoofs on the Annie Oakley comment by Senator Obama. On the economy side of things using […]

LMS: the Liebman-MacGuineas-Samwick Non-Partisan Social Security Reform Plan. Above we see Tables 1 & 2 of LMS. Its authors are interesting for a couple of reasons. One they are connected at pretty high policy levels to Administrations past, current, and future. In their own self description from LMS: “The three of us – former aides […]

Hat tip to reader Henry Cobb. The Economist reports an intersting conclusion in how we measure the equation more growth=more profits for investors. None of this is to deny the importance of emerging economies. The booms in India and China will have enormous effects on everything from the wages of unskilled labour to the price […]

Again we are getting the right wing line that the windfall profits tax on oil in the 1980s causedoil production to fall and oil imports to rise as Carpe Diem at http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5048766. post a story from Investors Business Daily saying that from 1980 to 1986 oil production fell. Yes, the windfall profits tax was still […]

The NYT reports significant progress in Basra, Iraq. The principal factor for improvement that people in Basra cite is the deployment of 33,000 members of the Iraqi security forces after the March 24 start of operations, which allowed the government to blanket the city with checkpoints on every major intersection and highway. Borrowing tactics from […]

cactus sends a note from the WSJ commentaries: Stephen Moore Looks at Mississippi The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Mississippi in January of 2004, the month Haley Barbour became governor of the state, was 5.7%. A year later, it was 6.9%. The latest figures (March 2003) showed a seasonally adjusted figure of 6.0%. Now consider […]

There are things that economists “know” that (let us be nice; economists, sometimes understandably, have delicate sensibilities) are not demonstrably true, and other things that economists Of A Certain Age may be motivated to believe, even if they are demonstrably untrue.

He’s more of an optimist than I am—but that isn’t difficult. Then again, he is also well aware that, were Hillary to drop out today, it wouldn’t be all peaches and cream from now until after the nominations are in place. People are saying that Hillary is “race-baiting” because she mentioned “blue-collar whites.” Save the […]

absolutely right. no one ought to try to live on SS who isn’t already pretty good at living on nothing. but that’s pretty much the point: SS is insurance… you set aside the least amount of money you can in order to guarantee at least the lowest possible standard of living you can stand “if […]

Lifted directly from comments cactus style: Vtcodger says: 1. Social Security is adequate only if you plan to spend your golden years in a poorly heated hovel dining on macaroni and cheese. I’d be OK with that myself, but a lot of folks wouldn’t. Most people need additional savings. That’s where 401K, IRA, et al […]