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

The National Review’s Reaction to Bernanke’s Nomination

Brad DeLong finds a Kudlow comment at The Corner and just shakes his head. But it was Michael Darda that was chosen to offer this critique: Up until this point, my hope was that Vice President Dick Cheney’s influence on the nomination process would tip the scales toward former Council of Economic Advisors chairman Glenn […]

PlameGate: Byron York’s Spin Undermined by President Bush

I was not surprised to see Bush apologist Byron York attack the efforts of Patrick Fitzgerald with “A Cover-up Without a Crime?” But I was delighted to see that as soon as the ink was dry on this op-ed that President Bush called the investigation of the outing of a CIA agent “very serious”.

Connie Mack on Mortgage Deductions and Borrowing Forever

Deborah Solomon of the New York Times interviews former Senator Connie Mack on tax reform: Q: Can you tell us about the report the tax-reform panel will be filing on Nov. 1? It’s been reported that you’re hoping to reduce some popular tax breaks, including the deduction for home mortgage interest from a $1 million […]

A New Fed Chair

Initial reports suggest that Bush is going to make an announcement this afternoon nominating Ben Bernanke to be the next Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. This is actually a pretty good choice, I think. (Full disclosure: he was one of my professors in grad school, so I accept the […]

A Grim Milestone

I rarely comment on the Iraq debacle on this blog, but I feel that this week’s events require me to do so. Today or tomorrow, most likely, we will pass a very grim milestone: the total number of Americans killed in Iraq will reach 2,000. This milestone will undoubtedly make some minor headlines, and serve […]

This Week’s Housing Data

This week’s news will probably be dominated by Wilma and Fitzgerald. And the top economic story will likely be Q3 GDP. But I’ll also be looking at the Existing Home Sales and New Home Sales reports for further clues of a housing slowdown. Expectations are for strong volumes for both existing and new home sales. […]

Index the Minimum Wage at $6.50

Kevin Drum unloaded on Scott McClellan and President Bush for their opposition to raising the minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.25: Whoa, Nelly! Sure, it’s been eight years since the last increase to the minimum wage, but even so an increase of $1.10 over an 18-month period might “price people out of the job market.” […]

Responsible Budgeting v. Big Government Conservatives

Mark Kleiman reads David Brooks and explodes: David, it’s not a matter of “not fully coherent” or lack of an “unorthodox management style”: its that every single thing his administration has turned its hand to, except lying to win elections, it’s trashed! Bush and his people suck at vision, suck at making reasonable plans, suck […]

Floating Exchange Rates are Neither Manipulation nor a Tax

Mark Thoma’s Snow Falls Silent in China links to an interesting article from Edmund Andrews. As John Tamny steals Mark’s title (“Snows Falls on China”), he writes: A frequently cited anecdote about England’s economic decline in the ’70s is the irony of countless Rolls Royces moving through the streets of London. At the time, savings […]