Bruce asks what bubble: It is worth noting that housing prices aren’t just rising here, they are rising worldwide. According to the Economist magazine, housing prices rose 65 percent in the United States between 1997 and 2004, but they rose 112 percent in Australia, 139 percent in Britain, 149 percent in Spain, 187 percent in […]
This week’s Buttonwood column in The Economist is typically bearish about the prospects for the financial markets in 2005, but more than typically explicit about why: As Christmas is fast approaching and this is the final Buttonwood of the year (and the last by this columnist), readers will perhaps forgive the sentimental segue into the […]
When someone is right, let’s say so: A liberal who is not chicken-shit would say that we only need extned the payroill tax to cover income up to $110K. This one change would make social security solvent for 75 years, and it spares the middle class a benefit cut. Yeah, I said it: Tax the […]
They’re back, and it’s nominatin’ time. AB
How many times have we heard free lunch promises from the GOP – especially in regards the Social Security issue? Well, Edmund Andrews reads the fine print. It would seem the GOP plan to save Social Security may include: – Raise the age when people can start to receive benefits; – Reduce payments to married […]
Business Week reads the latest from Paul Samuelson on trade theory and then writes Shaking Up Trade Theory. Brad DeLong objects to this paragraph: But if white-collar offshoring swells enough, the resulting job losses could undercut a large swath of U.S. consumers. In part, this is a question of scale. There’s little doubt that globalization […]
NOW Senator McCain tells us: PHOENIX, Arizona (AP) — U.S. Sen. John McCain said Monday that he has “no confidence” in Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, citing Rumsfeld’s handling of the war in Iraq and the failure to send more troops. McCain, speaking to The Associated Press in an hourlong interview, said his comments were […]
Just when we thought we’d see a fall in the price of clothes courtesy of allowing more imports from China, we learn this: Eighteen days before the end of a 30 year-old system restricting international trade in textiles and apparel, the Bush administration is imposing new barriers on imported clothing that is likely to curtail […]
Two hat tips. First, Daily Howler is doing an excellent job of both explaining this issue as well as the spin from hacks such as David Brooks, including his 12/11 post. See his 12/13 latest as well as all of Bob’s excellent reviews from 12/6 onwards. The second hat tip goes to Brad DeLong who […]
Alas, he was not talking about the General Fund (GF) issue but rather the Social Security Trust Fund (SSTF) issue. The President’s weekly Saturday radio addresses have alas been a time for either really dumb or dishonest statements –with the latest being both dumb and dishonest: The Social Security system is essential, yet it faces […]