Robert Waldmann Jonathan Chait has a very good article on Paul Ryan in The New Republic. In it he displays striking confusion on simple arithmetic. It’s worth keeping in mind that the current tax system in this country is only very slightly progressive. State and local taxes are regressive, federal taxes are somewhat progressive, and […]

Tom aka Rusty Rustbelt Perfect Babies and C-Section Complaints Some issues are like spring flowers, always returning. The “too many C-Sections” debate is recurring again, raising issues of cost and clinical judgment (some women want sections for cosmetic reasons). Problem is, Americans expect perfect babies, and if babies are not perfect it is time to […]

“Mr Geithner warns that US hedge funds, private equity groups and banks could be discriminated against if proposals to restrict the access of EU investors to funds based outside the 27-country bloc are included in the final law.” Geithner Warns of Rift Over Regulation as declared over this: “Germany and France on Wednesday called on […]

by Linda Beale JCT scoring of Obama budget; Senate vote on extending temporary tax breaks Harry Reid’s office announced that the final vote on the “American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010 (HR 4213), which will extend $31 billion in temporary tax breaks will take place on Wednesday Mar 10 (at the request […]

by Linda Beale The Chicago School–why does anybody still listen to it?I have frequently written here about the problems of “freshwater” economics–the school personified by Milt Friedman and the extremist “free market” ideology that views government as the enemy, the “markets” as always right, and any public role in economic development as “socialism”. As I’ve […]

Today I was thinking about tightening cycles in emerging markets; and more specifically, about that in China. Because let’s face it, China matters. China matters to the rest of Asia via competition for export income. China matters to Europe via competition for jobs. China matters to Brazil via domestic production via imports. China matters. The […]

This is a guest contribution by Marshall Auerback, Braintruster at the New Deal 2.0 by Marshall Auerback A new book by Kenneth Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart, “This Time It’s Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Follies”, has occasioned much comment in the press and blogosphere (see here and here) The book purports to show that once […]

by Linda Beale Banking Matters–Bing’s Views The Bing Blog is one of those well-written something about everything we’ve all thought about blogs that everybody should read at least every once in a while. So let me suggest a proper post for your introduction, if you haven’t looked there before. It’s a list of suggestions for […]