I want to point to Linda Beale’s post with Naked Capitalism, where additional commentary is added from Yves Smith and a few others. Worth a visit for sure.

By Daniel Becker I just want to lay out the debate going on in our economy right now. There are 4 debaters. President Obama/Geithner et al, President Obama 2008, the rich (or capitalist, those who make their money from money) and the rest of us. From President Obama’s 60 Minute interview: PRESIDENT OBAMA:…And it turns […]

By Daniel Becker I watched then read President Obama’s interview on 60 Minutes.  The following is the most telling quote: PRESIDENT OBAMA: …And, you know, I can make some really good arguments defending the Democratic position, and there are gonna be some people who just don’t agree with me. And that’s okay. And then we’ve […]

By Mike KimelCross posted at the Presimetrics blog. One of the enduring myths about the US economy, which like most such myths is used to support a lot of very bad economic theory, is the notion that there was some sort of big economic boom at the end of World War 2. Case in point: […]

Simon Johnson says it so I don’t have to: Paul Ryan is not a fiscal conservative… This is further confirmed by the following: 1. Paul Ryan’s main short-term suggestion in his FT piece today is: Cut taxes.  Anywhere else in the world you would be laughed out of the room for suggesting this as the […]

No transcript available at this time, but Rand Paul is all into symbolic votes and stomping his feet. (h/t Robert)

by Tom aka Rusty Rustbelt Health Care: The New, New Thing Hits a Snag The feds are starting to push “accountable care organizations” (ACOs) as a means of improving care while bending the cost curve, and providers appear eager to join the movement. Problem is, it appears ACO participants could violate general antitrust laws and […]

by Linda Beale Private equity doesn’t do us much good; avoiding taxes does us considerable harmcross posted with Ataxingmatter I. Private Equity, leveraged buyouts, and carried interest On MarketWatch, David Weidner’s “writing on the wall” column for Nov. 2, 2010 comments on “Paying for Wall Street’s Prosperity: Loophole could cost taxpayers $70 billion“. What loophole? […]

The Economist offers a timely note (h/t Rebecca): It’s short, but the gist is that Japan could increase productivity, jobs, and reduce the fiscal deficit by adopting daylight savings time. The last paragraph: “‘The best part is that it doesn’t cost anything,” chirps Mr Alkire. “It’s a real fiscal stimulus without any money.’ Adopting DST […]

By Noni Mausa The Promise Merchants Part II — Postulates(Dan here…reformatted from the original posted earlier) 1. There is always [1] excess production. Individual human beingscannot produce enough to live comfortably, but people in groups can’thelp but overproduce. 2. People can’t stop producing. The time, attention and efforts ofhuman beings are expended continuously. Their energy […]