by Tom aka Rusty Rustbelt Human Resources: Coincidence or Trend I have been around a long time, and have worked with and taught many people, so I get calls from people on career and workplace advice (I also have done expert witness work on certain aspects of employment practices). In the past two weeks I […]

What is wrong with this sentence ? It is true that making the headline corporate income tax rate lower would be a good idea since that might give us a less distortionary tax code,, but in light of the long-term budget crunch that means we need to make up for any rate cuts by closing […]

by Mike Kimel The Effect of Oil Prices on Oil Drilling in the U.S. Oil markets have changed dramatically in the past couple of decades or so. Except for a few years following the second Oil Embargo – prices got as high as $60 (in 2005 $) a barrel in 1981 – real prices have […]

I thought that the whole point of fiscal austerity was to turn the balance of trade and capital flow within the Euro area: debtors becoming savers and capital flows out of the Periphery and into to the core. We’re seeing the outset of such a shift; but it’s probably too slow in the making. The […]

by Tom aka Rusty Rustbelt A Modest Tax Proposal The GOP is all breathless about deficits, but this is the same GOP of Dubya Bush that fought a war in Iraq (unnecessary) and Afghanistan (overextended) funded entirely by debt. So, the following proposal. A 3% surtax on taxable incomes over $75,000 until the cost of […]

This is pure speculation (also called theory). I have no respect for economic theory definitely including my own efforts, so the post will all be after the jump. I will write about, sketch and definitely not write out a model in which Fed purchases of 7 year Treasury notes causes low investment. It happens to […]

I am not able to get anyone to debate me on monetary policy in a liquidity trap. Therefore I resort to crude provocation. I recall two claims about monetary policy which were not controversial until this year. First that the effects of a shift in monetary policy peak after roughly 6 months. Second that it […]

Various congressional representatives held town hall meetings recently, and the news channels and print media were abuzz with the lively give-and-take, including shouting matches. See, e.g., House G.O.P. Members Face Voter Anger Over Budget, New York Times, Apr. 26, 2011; Republicans facing tough questions over Medicare overhaul in Budget Plan, Washington Post, Apr. 22, 2011. […]