I don’t disagree with Ezra Klein often, so it is all the more pleasant to answer his rhetorical question. He wrote As a general point, I think “making people take semi-embarrassing votes” is vastly overrated in American politics. Can anyone think of a campaign that even partly turned on one of these gambits? It should […]

by Linda BealeHealth Care: The House’s Vote to Repealcrossposted with Ataxingmatter Well, they’ve done it. The House Republican majority pressed ahead with their repeal of health care reform, putting us (if their bill were to become law) right back in the mess of spiralling health care costs, tens of millions of uninsured Americans, and no […]

Begin with a Really Stupid Assumption: Assume Tom Friedman is correct. Not about the brilliance of cab drivers, or the flatness of the Earth, or even that AGW is the route to revitalize the U.S. economy.* But assume as valid his claim that the “global economy” makes war less likely; that Pakistan and India won’t […]

by: Daniel Becker Well, the repubs finally have put up.  They have a $2.5 trillion, ten year savings plan.  No, don’t worry.  You will be kept safe as all national security is untouched.  However, you can expect to wake up the next day from passage in a nation with an completely different personality.  As in […]

Many years ago, I had a Cultural Anthropology professor who discussed the glories of the mechanical cherry-picker. The only catch was that (1) it had upfront and maintenance costs and (2) it performs less well than experienced cherry-pickers. In short, it would be useful if you have a shortage of labor and an excess of […]

According to the Treasury International Capital System (TIC) release, foreigners were net buyers of US securities in November, +$39 billion over the month. Of the $61.7 billion in long-term Treasuries net purchased (notes and bonds), private investors claimed $50.6, while official investors (central banks, sovereign wealth funds, etc.) accrued a smaller $11.1 billion. Over the […]

“Most investors would acknowledge that social media is playing an increasing role in their investment decisions,” observes the UK Web site Mindful Money. “Yet no-one has mapped the emerging network of influence likely to be playing a crucial part in those decisions.” Until now.The presentation below provides a fascinating map of financial media influencers. The […]

If you have the stomach for it and want to learn more about the gory details about the policy side of all this, there are a bunch of good writers you can turn to, including Yves Smith, David Dayen, and Marcy Wheeler, all of whom have put up great pieces worth looking at in the […]

ddrew2u Beginner’s question: I was reading Krugman’s long article on how the Euro allowed weak countries to borrow on the same easy terms as strong countries — leading to the usual (e.g., Irish) bankers lending excess monies to people who can’t pay back. The usual cure — if a country has its own currency — […]