Mark Thoma notes that this piece from yesterday’s FT fits with his belief that “education is a key factor in our ability to compete in the emerging global marketplace.” I tend to agree. US manufacturing ‘undermined by skills gap’ More than three quarters of US manufacturers say that a scarcity of skilled workers is holding […]
Alas, the news is not about the House Republican leadership doing an about face and supporting an increase in the nominal minimum wage: WASHINGTON – The House on Tuesday agreed to a $3,100 pay raise for Congress next year to $165,200 after defeating an effort to roll it back. In a 263-152 vote, the House […]
John Tamny took some real heat for comments such as this: Despite clear evidence that the marginal rate cuts of the 1920s, ’60s, and ’80s (not to mention the 2003 tax cuts) led to higher revenues. In defense of Tamny, all he is doing is repeating claims from the likes of Art Laffer and his […]
Congressman Murtha was excellent on Meet the Press answering each question quite honestly: MR. RUSSERT: In hindsight, do you now believe your vote for the war in Iraq in 2002 was a mistake?REP. MURTHA: Obviously, it was a mistake. I mean, all of us were misled by the information that we had. But it was […]
Rumors of the housing market’s demise are probably premature. Yes, inventories are rising and price appreciation has slowed – and even some small price declines have been reported in Boston and anecdotally in San Diego. Also activity has slowed in some areas, like Northern California. But overall, inventories are still in line with a healthy […]
Actually, I suspect that Iain Murray failed to read the post by Andrew Samwick before Iain wrote: The aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita have proved a massive breeding ground for what former OECD Chief Economist David Henderson has termed “Do-it-Yourself Economics” (DIYE), which he defines as “firmly held intuitive economic ideas and beliefs which […]
Jesselee captures Congresswoman’s Jean Schmidt’s comments in full. Let’s focus on one sentence each from her original rant v. her retraction. From the rant: He also asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message, that cowards cut and run, Marines never do. From the retraction: Mr. Speaker, my remarks were not directed at any member […]
Whereas President Bush has praise for the small reduction in overall spending passed by the House arm-twisting hoping to reduce aid for the poor and education, he objects when the Senate sprinkles in a few energy tax increases to partially offset the tax cut extensions dubbed by Senator Santorum as the Tax Increase Prevention Act. […]
While Kash covers some recent revelations about the 2001 Cheney energy task force, James Hamilton designs an exam essay question: Sometimes I like to base exam questions for my students on recent news. Here’s an exam question to see how thoroughly students understand the economic issues associated with today’s allegations about oil companies and the […]
It seems the war between sensible moderate Republicans and their rightwing party leaders insures that government spending will not be reduced. Arlen Specter wanted to slash pork barrel spending, which alas angered the conservatives who only pretend to be fiscally responsible: Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), has angered colleagues facing reelection in 2006 by cutting $1 […]