Tyler Cowen reads Seymour Hersh and writes (somewhat optimistically): The core economic issue is this: in the midst of a “chicken” game, which verbal cues should lead you to conclude that things are going well (poorly) for your side? … How about this? We make lots of noise, hoping to scare Iran. If the noise […]
Phil Kerpen & Mallory Factor attack the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation citing two sources: The staggering costs of Sarbox bear repeating. An analysis by Sarbanes-Oxley Ivy Xiying Zhang of the University of Rochester measured the total stock market impact of the law, and found that it has cost over $1 trillion, with a “T.” About a third […]
First, it was William Kristol. As Jane Hamsher notes: Many people have assumed that BushCo. hasn’t gone into smear mode because of their previous praise of Fitzgerald, to which I say balderdash. They’d frame Mother Theresa for pedophelia if it suited their purposes. It’s what they know how to do. Justin Hood catches GOP hack […]
After reading the recently released FOMC transcripts from the year 2000, Dr. Altig laments on The Woes Of Making Policy In Real Time. Dr. Altig also provides excerpts of Greg Ip’s FOMC transcript summary from the WSJ. In 2000, as the economy slowed from the booming ’90s, the Federal Reserve, for the most part, missed […]
Lou Dobbs covered the big news on April 6 by inviting Bill Schneider to comment and Mr. Schneider did well. Alas, his time was shared with Jeffrey Toobin who is too lost in legal babble to get the big picture. First, Schneider’s comments: Well, for the very reason David Ensor just gave, that the president […]
Secretary Snow testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, and Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary on Wednesday: The economic indicators since the President signed the Jobs and Growth Act in May 2003 provide validity to this notion. Since that time, we have seen eleven straight months of positive business investment; nearly five […]
Josh Bivens says what I wish I had said!
Jim Hamilton covers a recent paper by Fed economist Jonathan Wright addressing exactly the question that I posed the other day: were interest rates more or less contractionary two months ago, when the yield curve was flat or slightly inverted but at lower interest rates, or today, when the yield curve is no longer inverted […]
As PGL notes, there was good news on the employment front this morning. The US economy continues to enjoy a respectable, though not spectacular, rate of job growth. Here’s the picture: For the past several months now the economy has generated more than the 125,000 to 150,000 new jobs needed each month to simply keep […]
The big news is covered by Kevin Drum, Max Sawicky, Mark Thoma, and many others almost too numerous to name. OK, the left side of BlogLand is all over this – but what about the National Review. It seems Andy McCarthy wants to “parse carefully how the press is describing Libby’s testimony”. Check out the […]