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

US Federal deficits

Mark Thoma posted yesterday Is Galbraith Right that Deficits are Never a Problem? on Paul Krugman’s NYT piece I Would Do Anything For Stimulus, But I Won’t Do That (Wonkish) on MMT and soveriegn debt (using Angry Bear’s posting of Jamie Galbraith’s testimony to Congress as a link), and has included Jamie Galbraith’s response. It […]

Tax extenders legislation

by Linda Bealecrossposted with Ataxingmatter tax extenders legislation As most everyone knows, the Bush tax cuts were passed as temporary measures, with a provision sunsetting the cuts at the end of 2010. Back when the GOP controlled Congress passed the series of Bush tax cuts, they knew that they were creating a whopping deficit but […]

Senate passes HR 4173 finance reform conference report

by Linda Beale crossposted with Ataxingmatter Senate passes HR 4173 finance reform conference report [updated to add information on Geithner’s opposition to Warren 7:12 pm] On a 60-39 vote, the US Senate passed the Dodd-Frank H.R. 4173 financial reform conference report today. While the bill imposes some new restrictions and creates a consumer protection agency, […]

Tenneco CEO’s Wall St. Journal on "American Capitalism"

by Linda Bealecrossposted with Ataxingmatter Tenneco CEO’s Wall St. Journal on “American Capitalism” Gregg Sherrill, the CEO of Tenneco, Inc., seems to think that Capitol Hill and the White House are “bashing” the “entire free enterprise system”–saying that the business world has “taken a pounding on Capitol Hill and at the White House” but except […]

Boomer (LACK OF) Business Ethics

by Tom aka Rusty Rustbelt BOOMER (LACK OF) BUSINESS ETHICS I recently had lunch with a friend of mine, one of the most sophisticated financial planners in the country. He has an interesting practice, about half wealthy executives and entrepreneurs, and the other half labor union pension plans. He made a huge ton of money […]

Quality Spreads

While the yield curve is widely followed and recognized as a leading indicator of the economy, another interest rate measure–quality spreads — is not as widely recognized as a leading indicator of the economy. Maybe that is because it is not quite as reliable as the yield spread and has also given false recession signals. […]

Inflation expectations are jointly falling?

by Rebecca Wilder As a global economic slowdown is very likely underway, inflation expectations are being watched closely. David Beckworth comments on inflation expectations in the US using the Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) market (he commented previously on an alternate measure of inflation expectations at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland). He argues that the […]

Tax cuts and Republican leaders

CBS News reports: Wallace asked Kyl on “Fox News Sunday”: “At a time Republicans are saying that they can’t extend unemployment benefits unless you pay for them, tell me, how are you going to pay that $678 billion to keep those Bush tax cuts for the wealthy?” Responded the Arizona senator: “[Y]ou should never raise […]