Conservative Economists Write a Letter A group of economists, including “the presidents of the Progress and Freedom Foundation, the Pacific Research Institute and the Competitive Enterprise Institute as well as scholars at the Hoover Institution and the Manhattan Institute all signed the letter” are annoyed at the pro-regulation position of a certain political strategist: “Your […]

Don’t Forget to Donate If you’ll look to your left, you’ll see a banner supporting Wampum’s Mary Beth Williams for Maine state representative (campaign site here). Today, there’s an interesting profile of her candidacy, with a lengthy discussion of the role of blogs in campaigns this year, in the Portland Phoenix. (Atrios, Kos, and Stirling […]

Another Greenspan Update Smart conservative Dan Drezner agrees that Greenspan’s comments are bad for Bush: “The more Greenspan clears his throat like this, the more the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is going to get nervous.” Dan’s got a few other examples of Greenspan recently making statements that clearly weren’t run by Karl Rove […]

A Little Logic Teeing off on an excerpt from Mayor Gavin Newsom’s appearance Larry King Live, Slacktivist applies a bit of logic: Newsom highlights the contradiction embraced by those who want to argue both that same-sex marriages are not constitutional and that the Constitution must be amended in order to make such marriages illegal. If […]

Greenspan Update In a comment to Kash’s post, I said Oddly, however, Greenspan actually saying this [SSI benefits need to be cut] makes his alleged long term goal less likely to come to pass, because it certainly isn’t a favor to Bush’s reelection odds. Here’s Josh Marshall saying the same thing: But Greenspan did the […]

Greenspan on Social Security Greenspan testified before the House Budget Committee today. Much of his talk was devoted to discussing the long-run fiscal implications of the retirement of the baby boomers. His recommendation for solving the long-term forecast shortfall in the Social Security trust fund is simple: cut benefits. I believe that a thorough review […]

Japan Remains Reptilian It’s a great metaphor, and we can thank a Morgan Stanley economist Osamu Tanaka for adding such poetry to the dismal science: [W]e do not think any full-fledged rebound in personal consumption [in Japan] can be expected, because corporations continue to restrain personnel spending and households’ need to restore depleted savings both […]

US Money Supply Numerous people have commented in recent weeks about the drop in the US money supply over the past few months. The graph below illustrates the concern. “Narrow” money supply (M1) grew more slowly in the end of 2003, but not unusually so. However, the growth in M2 (which includes cash, checking accounts, […]

On the Lighter Side … This is very funny. (Via Cynical-C.) And speaking of funny, read this letter from Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) to Council of Economic Advisors Chairman Mankiw. And no, it’s not a parody, it’s a transcription of the actual letter. Click and see Dingell explain his nomination of the Hon. Mayor McCheese […]

The Triple-X Amendment Democrats need to highlight the idiocy of Bush’s proposed bigotry amendment. I think the best way to do that is to fight to attach bans on turpitude in all its forms: adultery, divorce, fornication, hand-jobs, sodomy, you name it. If it’s not missionary with your opposite-gendered spouse, then by God, the XXVIIIth […]