Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Because He Would Never Name N. Gregory Mankiw or R. Glenn Hubbard as Arsonists Screaming for a Fire Hose

Go read Mark Thoma. Because he’s a kinder, gentler human being than I am: The time to stand up to the budget busting was when it happened, and when members of the list had the power to affect policy, not many years later in an article at Politico. Many on the list were either part […]

Health Care thoughts: Obamacare Suffers Serious Set Back

Health Care thoughts: Obamacare Suffers Serious Set Back The Community Living Assistance Services and Support (aka C.L.A.S.S.) is a lesser discussed but important feature of Obamacare (PPACA). The Act requires the feds to set up a quasi-insurance self-funding mechanism for long-term care services (for more details see my write up at ISSUU/healthcarethinktank. During testimony in […]

Europe’s industrial new orders: 3 very different stories

Spain vs. Germany vs. UK: production trends showing holes in some growth stories Eurostat reports new orders for January: In January 2011 compared with December 2010, the euro area1 (EA17) industrial new orders index2 rose by 0.1%. In December 20103 the index grew by 2.7%. In the EU271, new orders increased by 0.2% in January […]

Guest post: Prometheus and Bundled Payments

As an extension of one of my posts, Global payment system, as the current buzz in healthcare reform, Michael Halasy points us to one of his choices for a plan. Guest post by Michael Halasy, Practicing Emergency Medicine PA, Health Policy Analyst, and Health Services Researcher Prometheus and Bundled Payments So, one of the more […]

It’s not structural unemployment, it’s the corporate saving glut

Mark Thoma rightly points out the hypocrisy of the deficit hawks’ intent to cut spending while approving military spending in the same sentence. Ryan Avent furthers the dicussion by stating that Washington has used the ‘dire fiscal’ rhetoric to sell short-term cuts that were unwarranted, given that the fiscal problems are structural in nature. Me, […]

Drugs, the US solution for all the pain

By: Daniel Becker Just a little something that came across my desk. As you read it, think about the concept: War on Drugs. “In the United States, the therapeutic use of opioids has exploded as witnessed by the increased sales of hydrocodone by 280% from 1997 to 2007, while at the same time methadone usage […]

Super moon tonight

NPR writes: Get outside if you can Saturday evening and look up. Something that only happens a couple times in most people’s lives should be putting on a pretty good show (and we can all use a break from the news of late). As NASA’s Science News explains, a “super moon” will be dominating the […]

It’s lonely at the top: now it’s up to the Bank of Japan to hold the yen down

Wow, FX space is totally rattled this week: the yen hit 76.25 against the dollar at the end of the day on March 16 and has since rebounded to current levels 80.90 (1:50pm in NY on 3/18). What happened over this time span? Mass speculation on yen appreciation due to earthquake-related repatriation, followed by technical […]

Information Reporting on foreign depositors in US banks–Florida’s GOP delegation shamefully supports tax evasion facilitation

by Linda Bealecrossposted with Ataxingmatter Information Reporting on foreign depositors in US banks–Florida’s GOP delegation shamefully supports tax evasion facilitation Many wealthy Americans have taken advantage of banking secrecy in other countries, particularly Switzerland, to hide their assets and income from the United States, thus avoiding paying their fair share of taxes on their riches.  […]