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

Stiglitz and Bilmes on Costs of Iraq War

For those interested, here is the Bilmes and Stiglitz paper I referenced in my previous post: The Economic Costs of the Iraq War:An Appraisal Three Years After the Beginning of the Conflict Linda Bilmes, Kennedy School, Harvard University AndJoseph E. Stiglitz, University Professor, Columbia University

Snow’s Garbage on the Deficit

Aaargh! Snow: Spending cuts to reduce deficit WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House aims to shrink the U.S. budget deficit through spending restraint and strong government revenues but will oppose letting tax breaks expire, Treasury Secretary John Snow said Tuesday. “You’ll see the administration press awfully hard to contain spending,” Snow told reporters at a […]

More on the National Income Accounting Puzzle: BarkleySpeak – You Listen

Barkley is not buying the Dark Matter argument: I do not buy this. We are the biggest net debtor in world history, however you count cap gains and all that. What is going on is the exercise of our global power. Our corporations are getting higher returns through outsourcing and transfer pricing. We take advantage […]

Bushonomics, Full Employment, and Rising Standards of Living

The best thing I can say about the latest from Sebastian Mallaby is that he does not give all of the credit for the return to full employment and rising compensation to the tax cuts: Well, how about the fact that no less a critic than Greg Mankiw, the administration’s very own chief economist until […]

By Popular Demand

Colors are now more boring neutral. I suppose I’m the only one around here with Longhorn Fever, with the possible exceptions of Movie Guy, th, and perhaps dchogs. Here’s one last shot for the fans, courtesy of the Burnt Orange Report: We now return to our regularly scheduled bad economic news. AB

The Net Income From Abroad Puzzle

Via Mark Thoma comes a very nice discussion of the current account and capital flows from Martin Feldstein. This jumped out at me: This unprecedented level is equal to 6.4 per cent of US gross domestic product. Experts estimate that the real trade-weighted value of the dollar must fall by at least 30 per cent […]

Corporate Tax Rates and Competitiveness: Hassett v. Chinn

If you are reading this: So what explains the advantage gained from locating production overseas? The most powerful factor appears to be taxes. You might feel the need to rebut, but save your efforts as Menzie Chinn already has.

So Donald Luskin Thinks $90 Billion a Year is Pocket Change

Luskin’s latest tirade nitpicks at the wording of something Paul Krugman said. OK, that’s nothing new but let’s take a look at his first substantive comment in the tirade: But Krugman continues to whine: “Revenue remains lower, and the federal budget deeper in deficit, than anyone expected a few years ago.” Anyone? That just can’t […]

Stiglitz and Bilmes: The Real Cost of Iraq War

Drs. Joseph E. Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes presented a new analysis of the cost of the Iraq war on Sunday at the American Economic Association meeting in Boston. Their analysis shows the total costs will probably exceeds $2 Trillion. The Boston Globe reports: The cost of the Iraq war could top $2 trillion after factoring […]