Mike Crapo has joined James DeMint, Rick Santorum, Lindsey Graham, and Tom Coburn with another spin on Social Security privatization that Phil Kerpen endorses: The DeMint-Crapo amendment puts the possibility of meaningful, pro-worker Social Security reform back into play. If the Democrats are smart they will latch onto it before the train leaves the station. […]
This morning’s release of consumer price inflation data for February by the BLS indicates that, for yet another month at least, any inflation pressures caused by last year’s sharp rise in energy prices has not been passed on into the prices of other goods. The inflation rate faced by consumers for things other than food […]
Two of the most dishonest expressions among George Bush’s standard rants are “giving you your money back” and “priorities”. How else would one explain the following two stories. The AP reports: In both the House and Senate, Democrats have long pushed for more money for ports only to have the Republican-controlled Congress reject their efforts, […]
The good news is that Senator Harkin has a spine. As for the lack of support from other Democratic Senators, see the debate between Kevin Drum and Glenn Greenwald. I’m with Glenn on this one. Some of the left are rightfully blasting Senator Allard for this: Yesterday, in an interview for Fox News Radio, you […]
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 […]