The abstract of Job Flows and the Recent Business Cycle: Not All ‘Recoveries’ Are Created Equal by R. Jason Faberman reads: The last two economic downturns are notable for their slow labor market recoveries. Yet, the behavior of their underlying gross job flows is quite different. The 1990-92 period had a relatively slow decline in […]
Yesterday I heard a story on NPR’s Morning Edition that set me to wondering. The central point of the story was that newspapers (particularly local papers) are facing an increasingly difficult time, because their ad revenues are declining as more people get their news from the internet instead of from a traditional newspaper. Newspapers can […]
Mark Thoma reads John Tamny so we don’t have to. Tamny writes: What seemingly is missed every time the anti-trust crowd gets in a froth over a proposed merger is the nature of profits. If anything, consumers should hope that companies succeed in achieving monopoly profits. Large profits by definition speak to an unmet market […]
In the news today, there is new data about US borrowing from abroad, and retail spending at home. First the borrowing: U.S. current account widens to record WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The U.S. current account deficit widened by 21.3% to a record $224.9 billion in the fourth quarter, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. The deficit amounted […]
Paul Krugman and Robin Wells review three books on the US health care system
Maybe it’s a little early but Max Sawicky just gave me two reasons to support Senator Feingold for President in 2008. The first: Feingold is bad on fiscal policy (he’s a budget balancer) Maybe Max does not wish a return to Rubinomics, but I do. The main point of Max’s post is to endorse the […]
Lawrence Kudlow once again is guilty of either stupidity or mendacity (or both) as misrepresents a speech by Ben Bernanke: It’s always amazing to listen to conventional demand-side economic pundits and mainstream reporters who try as hard as they can to minimize the excellent performance of the American economy ever since lower marginal tax-rate incentives […]
Richard Kogan and Aviva Aron-Dine recently put forth CLAIM THAT TAX CUTS “PAY FOR THEMSELVES” IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE: Data Show No “Free Lunch” Here: In recent statements, the President, the Vice President, and key Congressional leaders have asserted that the increase in revenues in 2005 proves that tax cuts “pay for themselves.” […]
Andrew Sullivan attacks Paul Krugman (hat tip to Mark Thoma) in such an utterly disingenuous way that is receiving some well deserved scorn. Krugman writes: According to this view, if you’re a former Bush supporter who now says, as Mr. Bartlett did at the Cato event, that “the administration lies about budget numbers,” you’re a […]
The Employment Situation Summary for February shows that nonfarm payroll employment grew by 243,000 – so why did the unemployment rate rise to 4.8%? The Household Survey indicated a 183,000 increase in employment, which meant that the employment to population ratio remained at 62.9%. The civilian labor force grew by 335,000, which bumped the labor […]