With the recent surge in oil prices I thought it would be useful to look at the potential impact with one set of data I watch. It is energy as a share of personal consumption expenditures or consumer spending. In the 1970s energy consumption rose from about 6% to 9% of spending, or about 50%. […]
An opinion piece in the NYT points us to new docs on former President Eisenhower: LAST week the National Archives released a trove of drafts and notes that shed new light on President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s farewell address, in which he warned America about the “military-industrial complex.” More can be found here. On Oct. 31, […]
by Mike Kimel Cross posted at the Presimetrics blog. I just came upon The Pentagon Labyrinth Its a very readable, very informative collection of essays about national defense in the United States. The essays are written by ex-defense personnel (some of whom were very influential) and journalists who cover the military, and to top it […]
Just in case anyone didn’t see this, or overlooked it the first time, at Maxine Udall, Girl Economist: A memorial service and celebration of her life will be held for Alison at 1:00 pm on March 5, 2011 at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 145 West Rose Tree Road, Media PA, 19063. We invite you all […]
by Linda Beale More on the Mortgage Mess As our banking giants engaged more and more in speculation, and as the shadow banking system saw a way to make money off of people’s bad financial decisions by betting against subprime loans, the financial crisis took off. So redressing the problems that caused the crisis shouldn’t […]
I sent this Salon article on the Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas The bigger Clarence Thomas scandal by Ben Adler to Beverly Mann asking her what she thought of the article. The article discusses the possible conflict of interest regarding Judge Thomas’s ruling on Citizen’s United and his failure to disclose his wife’s earnings: Experts […]
Bond markets are pricing in rate hikes this year by the ECB and the BoE. Both are inflation targeters, so which one should react first to a possible spike in oil prices? What’s your answer? (1) Neither. As FX appreciation and fiscal austerity pass through to domestic prices, the core will drag down the headline. […]
by Michael Halasy Medical Malpractice Reform: Truth in Advertising Needed (Part Two of Three) So in the first article, we discussed the historical implications of tort reform by examining Texas. The take home message being that tort reform failed to curb health care spending, and/or control costs (outside of malpractice premiums which did fall). Proponents […]
Last year many economists argued that the economy needed more quantitative easing which would drive down real interest rates (whether by driving down long maturity nominal rates or by driving up expected inflation). The counter argument is that quantitative easing is not effective if there is a liquidity trap. Well we now have QE2 (since […]
By Daniel Becker Now that the story is getting out that Governor Walke et al’s bill is about more than just busting unions, a little bell went off in the back of my head. Yes, I read Shock Doctrine. Yes, I understand the true concept of fascism. I read What would Jefferson do. I read […]