by Mike Kimel What Exactly is the Comparative Advantage of Banks?Cross posted at the Presimetrics blog. What exactly is the comparative advantage of banks? When the bank bail-outs began, I noted that bailing out banks makes no sense whatsoever. The focus should be on a well-functioning financial system, and not on the survival of existing […]
by Bruce Webb Well I guess my reputation precedes me at least a little bit. Jed Graham of Investor’s Business Daily has devised a new fix for Social Security and published it as A Well Tailored Safety Net (link to chapter summary) and kindly offered to send me a copy to review. Well I am […]
by Linda Beale Link Worth Noting: the Wall St. Journal’s anti-FAIR Tax editorial, and Ed’s comment at TaxProfcrossposted with Ataxingmatter I’ve often commented on the so-called “FAIR Tax” on this blog–a proposal for a consumption tax that tends to be supported by GOP politicians and right-wing propaganda tanks and is often blatantly misrepresented in discussions. […]
This post caught my attention, and worth holding in mind as regulation develops. After several weeks of officially pleasant interactions, signs are emerging that the Treasury Department’s knives may be coming out against Elizabeth Warren. In recent weeks, Treasury officials have leaked details about Warren to Politico as part of what appears to be an […]
Robert Waldmann Matt Yglesias wonders if people have to speculate in housing. What if someone wants to buy a house but doesn’t want to gamble that house prices will increase ? Is there anything to be done ? In theory, this problem has been solved. It is now possible for home buyers to hedge. It […]
by Linda Beale Americans are voting on the wrong information crossposted with Ataxingmatter Even the Washington Post knows it–a new Bloomberg poll shows that Americans have wrong information about the Obama Administration’s record. see Americans Don’t Know, Oct, 29 2010. They mistakenly think taxes have increased (they haven’t–they’ve gone down), that the TARP money won’t […]
Yesterday Eurostat released the September unemployment rate figures for the European Union and the Eurozone. From the release: The euro area1 (EA16) seasonally-adjusted2 unemployment rate3 was 10.1% in September 2010, compared with [downward revised] 10.0% in August4. It was 9.8% in September 2009. The EU27 unemployment rate was 9.6% in September 2010, unchanged compared with […]
Max Sawicky, on his Twitter feed, sends us to this classic piece from Donald Luskin Believe me, if we raise taxes on hedge-fund managers we’ll get fewer hedge-fund managers. Today, with lots of hedge-fund managers trading all the time and keeping markets efficient, stocks are at record highs around the globe and markets are deeper, […]
This site, Remapping Debate, by Colombia Review Journalism shows some promise for information. Here’s a piece missing from the debate on the impact pension cuts on a consumer and credit driven economy (Coming boomer pension cuts…what impact on the economy, by Diana Jean Schemo) might have on the Great Recession. It is long and has […]
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