Robert Waldmann Matthey Yglesias points to an old mediamatters.com report which attempts to demolish the center right nation claim. I think the report is a precious resource as it collects the relevant data. Previously I found myself wasting a lot of time searching pollingreport.com. I have some thoughts on the report after the jump. update: […]

By Bruce Webb PGL raises and answers this question over at Econospeak Health Care Debate: So This is Why Conservatives Hate Social Security. Or rather he allows Conservatives in the person of Michael Cannon at Cato admit the fundamental truth: successful government social programs fatally undercut future political success for the Right. Cannon: Blocking Obama’s […]

Geithner it is. I guess we can pretend he’s not a Clinton administration alum. And he has the right experience: Though not an economist, Mr. Geithner has a deep understanding of monetary and fiscal policy and broad experience in international trade issues. Before the current crisis, he was involved in the bailouts of Mexico, Indonesia, […]

rdan hat tip to reader Jack for this example of reading making the rounds of car dealers: Subject: An example of American management expertise. It’s nice when they use an analogy to show what’s really going on – then we can understand it better. This should be sent to GM !!! Toyota and GM decided […]

OSO writes: “With thousands of houses already torched beyond repair and tens ofthousands more likely to perish, this mass immolation will reduce thesurplus supply of houses in California.” said Professor Saul O’Hara ofthe New York School of Economics today. “With a drop in supply therewill come an increase in prices, which will then reinvigorate thestate’s, […]

by reader vtcodger In a discussion on November 16th under the title The Gold Standard in One Easy Quote, I suggested inverting a chart of the spot price of gold in dollars to get a chart of the way a gold based currency would behave. Rdan thoughtfully inverted said chart (labels and all) and asked […]

Emanuele Millemaci and Robert Waldmann This paper focuses on two main issues. First, we find that, on average, households’ discount rates decline. This implies dynamically inconsistent preferences. Second, we calculate an indicator of the degree of dynamic inconsistency that may help us to understand how households overcome their self-control problems. We use a micro data […]

Ken Houghton Christopher Buckley leads the Republican Party to water, and speculates on watching them sink: …GOP pin-up girl Sarah Palin. I’ll stipulate that that’s condescending, if my former confreres on the Right will stipulate that had Gov. Palin’s first name been “Bob” or “Chuck,” her surname would still be unrecognizable to 90 percent of […]

Back in the Good Old Days, Leveraged Buyouts (LBOs) all the rage. Not coincidentally, the phrase “underfunded pension liabilities” moved into the mainstream. Long story short: when legislation is finally passed to make the “underfunded” portion a thing of the past (you can stop laughing any time), several large companies run by Captains of Industry—think […]