Robert Waldmann Is proposing toxic sludge inc with a cooler name, while commenting on Krugman. Krugman writes Bad bank bafflement The idea of setting up a “bad bank” or “aggregator bank” to take over the financial system’s troubled assets seems to be gaining steam. So let me go on record as saying that I don’t […]

rdan Brad Delong lifted Robert’s comments to a post, and then I lifted the post to here. I find I have a similar problem with other Angry Bears and their comments elsewhere. (humorous sigh) Robert Waldmann: Economic Theory as a Subbranch of Mathematics Robert Waldmann winds up and asks a question: Hoisted from Comments: Grasping […]

By Spencer The typical reaction and/or discussion about the decline in manufacturing employment over the years indicates to me that there is a lot of confusion about what it means. Most comments seem to imply that falling manufacturing employment means that industrial/manufacturing output is falling in importance in the economy. But if you compare the […]

Andrew Biggs thinks the answer is ‘Yes’ Obama Echoes Bush on Social Security and Barkley Rosser suspects he may be right Obama Drinks Social Security Kool-Aid. Each drawing his particular hope and fear from this WaPo article Obama Pledges Entitlement Reform: President-Elect Says He’ll Reshape Social Security, Medicare Programs Well I am STILL not worried […]

rdan Trade and Taxes has a post I recommend reading…this is lifted wholesale as a compliment to Howard’s passion and thought on the issue of trade policy and our woes…we might differ on some of the details, but read carefully: Real Keynesians understand imbalanced trade by Howard Richman The United States is being run by […]

Robert Waldmann What can we learn from really bad arguments ? I think it is useful to examine plainly invalid arguments, because the error in thought which they grossly manifest might contaminate less obviously idiotic contributions to the discussion. A few arguments are so dumb that they have remained fixed in my mind. Most of […]

By Spencer In December industrial production fell 2.0% and manufacturing output fell 2.3% to a level almost 10% below year ago levels . From a level of 100 at the peak industrial production has now fallen to 92.0, or roughly at the average trough level for the 10 post WW II recessions of 92.3%. Three […]

Please open your 1040 and ask your accoutant to add something extra to your tax payments. Please? by: Divorced one like Bush

What are the odds that 2 standard deviations from outcome II always get you the same shape for I?1997 II.F62000 II.F62004 II.D72007 II.D7 Goldilocks and the Three Social Security BearsWhat are the odds that we get the first four results simply by variation from the median? Low Cost until 2007 meant fully funded but not […]