Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Rare earth supply and trade implications

Dan here…Lifted with permission from an e-mail from Tim Worstall, an expert in rare earth issues and resources, in response to my sending him the NYT article suggesting China was using rare earth resources as both a trade issue (notice NYT suggestion the pass on processed product versus raw material export)) and political leverage with […]

Payroll Tax Cut

Labor cost as a share of business output is now at a post WW – II low. and has fallen about eight percentage points since 2000. This would suggest that the weak demand for labor does not stem from high labor cost. Actually since the third quarter of 2000 while labor cost as a share […]

CGI, Day 3 – Addressing Cancer in the Developing World: Health Equity and an Overlooked Public Health Crisis

The panel is preceded by this video. Dr. Sanjay Gupta (Chief Medical Correspondent, CNN) leads the panel, featuring: Charles-Patrick Almazor, Director, Public Sector Partnership, Artibonite Department, Partners In Health Lance Armstrong, Founder and Chairman, LIVESTRONG Paul Farmer, Co-Founder, Partners In Health; Chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Chief […]

Rand Paul’s History Lesson

Robert Waldmann Republican candidate for Senator from Kentucky Rand Paul said“In 1923, when they destroyed the currency, they elected Hitler. “ He’s off by a decade. Hitler was elected in 1933 not 1923. This is not just a slip or a typo. The German hyper-inflation ended in 1923. At the time Hitler was in jail […]

CGI Day 3 – Harnessing Human Potential, or The Bush Family Extravaganza

The original schedule for this program was Riz Khan of Al Jazeera English moderating Laura Bush, Former First Lady of the United States Jack Ma, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Alibaba Group Shakira Mebarak, Founder, The Barefoot Foundation Rajendra Pawar, Founder and Chairman, NIIT Group but Shakira was unable to attend, and was replaced by […]

Social Security Trust Funds: Why Solvency = Discounted Interest Only Loan

by Bruce Webb Are the Special Treasuries that make up the Social Security Trust Funds real? Absolutely, quite apart from legal and historical arguments the DI Trust Fund will be cashing in some $23 billion of them in 2010 along with taking some $9 billion [edit] in interest, their reality is affirmed every time a […]

Dr. Lawrence H. Summers to leave WH

The NYT reports that Dr. Lawrence H. Summers, Director of the National Economic Council and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, announced his plans to return to his position as University Professor at Harvard University at the end of the year. Dr. Summers is the chief White House advisor to the President on the […]

CGI, Day 2 – Securing the Health and Safety of Girls and Women

Tina Brown introduces: Gary Cohen, Executive Vice President, BD Geeta Rao Gupta, Senior Fellow, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Richard C. Holbrooke , Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, U.S. Department of State “and, of course” Ashley Judd, Board Member, Population Services International Starts with Geeta Rao Gupta, who declares the primary issue to be […]