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

More Troops to Iraq CNN is reporting that the 1st Brigade of the 82cd Airborne Division will soon deploy to Iraq because there is a an oncoming troop shortfall. Additionally the 3rd Brigade of the 82cd Airborne, currently deployed around Fallujah have been ordered to stay for another two months. This is because the National […]

Hello Hi everyone, I have been lucky enough to be allowed to guest blog at one of my favorite blogs over this Christmas week. My normal blog home is Fester’s Place where I will still be keeping up with my normal blogging for the next week or two while I am over at Angry Bear. […]

Dan Drezner: “the very foundation of troubles in this country?” I knew there had to be some good reason why I nominated Drezner for the best Right-of-Center Blog for the upcoming Koufax awards. AB UPDATE. Sheesh. Read the article in Slate that inspired Drezner’s hate-mail. It’s a pretty moderate questioning of Bush’s policy implementation skills […]

No Sh*t SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (news – web sites) declared California in a fiscal crisis Thursday and invoked emergency powers so he could impose $150 million in spending cuts without the Legislature’s approval. “I had to do this,” Schwarzenegger said at a news conference Thursday. The move comes as local governments in […]

An Interesting Question Where’s the inflation? Everywhere you turn, there are red-light indicators of inflation: the dollar’s value is plunging, gold prices are through the roof and commodity prices are marching upwards, including Alan Greenspan’s pet indicator, scrap steel… This piece asks the right questions. Yes, it is a bit of a mystery, though regular […]

Slightly Sinister Yes, many of us have commented on it before, but it’s worth a repeat: the Bush administration loves to change history. Today’s Washington Post runs a short story on it: White House Web Scrubbing: Offending Comments on Iraq Disappear From Site It’s not quite Soviet-style airbrushing, but the Bush administration has been using […]

Math and Economics Economics and economists use a lot of math. Sometimes perhaps even gratuitously. Daniel Davies has a lengthly disquisition of the issue over at Crooked Timber. Here’s a sample: The use of mathematics in economics isn’t the sort of Theory we’re concerned with trying to stamp out; like the War on Drugs, the […]

Rogue Attack Operation? There’s a little more detail today on the funding for the anti-Dean attack ads that Kash wrote about yesterday. Who is in the group? The group, called Americans for Jobs, Health Care & Progressive Values, was formed a month ago by veteran Democratic campaign staffers who refuse to identify their financial backers […]

Today’s Polls Bush ratings up after Saddam capture. Jackson gets boost in new opinion poll Was the capture of Saddam good for Michael Jackson’s image too? AB

Inflation Still Falling This news surprised most economists: today’s release of the November CPI showed a fall in prices of .2%. The core rate, excluding food and energy, showed a fall in prices of .1%. The 12-month inflation rate in the US has now fallen to 1.20% (see this graph for context). Those economists would […]