I finally read something from Stephen Moore worth quoting: As former Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacoca once declared, any CEO who tried this with a private firm’s pension fund would be thrown in jail. Of course, this was Lee Iacoca’s line and Stephen does not really go after his accomplice in their Soc. Sec. scam. But […]

No, Mr. Chairman. We were not all wrong: Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) sparred today at a congressional hearing over whether Greenspan deserves some blame for helping to create the federal budget deficits that he regularly deplores. Greenspan said today, “we were all wrong,” in early 2001 when government […]

David Malpass opens his NRO oped by noting Alan Greenspan’s “warnings on the deficit situation”, but then writes: In a good turn of events, however, the recently passed House and Senate budget resolutions include reconciliation instructions requesting tax-cut legislation in 2005 … Indeed, a joint House and Senate budget that includes tax-cut funding would be […]

Jack Snow’s annouces a government web site of the usual distortions. But could someone explain this line from our Treasury Secretary: So if someone promises you a 75-year fix, I encourage you to read the fine print. In 1983 we were promised a ‘75-year fix’ – but 2 years later, the system was headed out […]

Keep up the good work, PGL: Support for Bush on Social Security Wanes, Poll Finds Barely a third of the public approves of the way President Bush is dealing with Social Security and a majority says the more they hear about Bush’s plan to reform the giant retirement system, the less they like it, according […]

When I read Duncan Black’s latest Wanker, I began to wonder if David Brooks had mastered the technique known as the Vulcan Mind Meld. Greg Mankiw’s lead paragraph reads: Harvard University is, by some measures, one of the most left-wing institutions on the face of the earth. So you may be surprised to hear that […]

Donald Luskin is pushing this paper from Thomas A. Garrett and Russell M. Rhine as proof we should support Bush’s Social Security proposals. Their paper tells us two things we already knew: the expected return on stocks exceeds the risk-free rate but actual returns may vary. And one would do better if one did not […]

“Record” seems to be the favorite term for CNN of late: household wealth yesterday and record export demand today. It is true that exports have risen in nominal terms and are even higher than they were in 2000 after adjusting for inflation. Exports, however, are only 10% of GDP now versus 11.2% for 2000. BEA’s […]

The Club for Growth Social Security blog has some funny finance. Andrew Roth pushes Cato’s Daily Debunker, which wants you to believe that you get a better return if you own your Social Security retirement funds. I’ll skip my usual Barro-Becker sermon of why this is funny finance and just go to this story highlighted […]

So says this story: WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Rising real estate prices and a resurgent U.S. stock market pushed the net wealth of American households to a record high in the fourth quarter of 2004, the Federal Reserve said Thursday. In its quarterly “Flow of Funds” report, the central bank said household balance sheet values rose […]