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

BW v BK on Social Security

Lewis Carroll subtitled the ‘Hunting of the Snark’ ‘an Agony in Eight Fits’. Those of you who want equivalent nonsense feel free to follow the link. Krasting at Zero Hedge: Taking it Personal otherwise:They hunted till darkness came on, but they found Not a button, or feather, or mark, By which they could tell that […]

More on freshwater economics

by Linda Beale I just discovered (via Mark Thoma’s Economist’s View) an economics blog by Maxine Udall (self-styled “girl economist”–which just goes to show how much our image of economists is one of hirsuted males forging through the marketplace…oops, I meander) that may be worth a read. I’ll add it to my “progressive sites of […]

Two BRICs: India vs. Brazil

by Rebecca Wilder I started research on India to further explore economic prospects after reading and (excellent) FT article on necessary labor reform. In doing so, I now see a (possibly) much flatter economic growth trajectory for Brazil. Here is an excerpt from the article (last paragraph): Over the years, numerous academic studies and official […]

Tax Gimmicks then and now–sunsetting tax cuts; temporary tax hikes

by Linda Beale When the Republicans wanted to enact huge tax cuts for individuals and businesses in 2001 and 2003 (as well asadditional cuts in other years), they realized that it would result in long-term deficits of unforgiving amounts. So they scaled back their package with a gimmick–a sunsetting tax provision that, like Cinderella’s fairy […]

Name the Year: Declining Home Prices and Equity Removal

UPDATE: In this context, Dr. Black catches Jamie Dimon expressing what is at best ignorance: However, [Dimon] cautioned, until the market meltdown “you never saw losses in these products, because home prices were going up.” All that research in 1984 and 1990 was for naught, apparently. I’m still away (things are better, but still not […]

The Sky Is Falling Before Schedule. Again.

by Dale Coberly Bruce Krasting tells us The sky is falling the sky is falling Social Security has run out of money 30 years before it was supposed to happen. The words here are mine, the tone is his. He writes: I think that the recession of 08 and 09 and the anticipated high unemployment […]