The US trade deficit hit a record high of $60bn in November. That means that the US imported $60bn more of goods than it exported that month. This is a large, large number. How large? Think of it this way: $60bn is about what a medium-sized economy or two (like perhaps Mexico, or Australia plus […]

I have to hand it to AB for his perfectly timed lead-in in the previous post; because as of today, I’m back. Sorry about the extended hiatus. I spent some time with my family, did a bit of traveling, and generally recharged after what was for me a rather draining fall. But I’m now ready […]

If you’ll look to the left, you’ll see that I’ve added a new section, “Social Security Insurance” to the Topics list. I won’t put every post mentioning SSRI there, but I’ll add the more substantive ones as they arrive. Then look right, where you’ll see two new economics blogs on the blogroll, David Altig’s blog, […]

Here’s a nice example of an accurate headline, from CBS MarketWatch: Fact-checking Bush on Social Security President exaggerates problems in retirement system By Rex Nutting, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 4:20 PM ET Jan. 11, 2005 WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) – President Bush made several factual errors Tuesday about Social Security’s long-term financing problems at a photo op event […]

John Hood writes: Ramesh: you are being, if anything, too charitable to Brad DeLong on the point of the nature of the IOUs in Social Security. He is right to point out that, on some level, any financial security is an IOU. It represents a claim on future income. Thus it represents, inevitably, an asset […]

Just as I thought the Clown Show at the National Review could not get funnier, Luskin exceeds expectations: The Social Security crisis begins to materialize in just 5 years…Here are the facts. You decide whether they amount to a “crisis.”… he surplus will keep getting bigger and bigger through 2008, when it will reach $108 […]

OK, I never met Ida May Fuller but the fellow who wrote this WSJ oped in July 2000 claims to be a friend of hers. I metion this in light of the latest from James Glassman (see the comment from Brad DeLong). It would seem that Glassman continues in a long line of those who […]

After weeks of lean-to-the-right panels and rather worthless discussions, Russert invites Al Hunt, Katty Kay, Andrea Mitchell, and Byron York to discuss various issues. OK, Atrios is right that the Social Security discussion was awful. But the Iraq discussion was of interest: MR. HUNT: You also see, Tim, I think there is the beginnings of […]

Brad DeLong ridicules the latest cheerleading from Lawrence Kudlow. It was this paragraph that caught my attention: A recent study by the Atlanta Federal Reserve estimates that only 98,000 new jobs per month are required to keep unemployment under control. The reason? Labor-force participation has declined somewhat as more students remain in school, more workers […]

When I err, I err. I was so frustrated yesterday with the excuse mongering re the White House bribing Armstrong Williams and with the focus on the secondary issue – that being Williams’s unethical behavior, I went after Jonah Goldberg (and misspelled his name to boot). Readers of the Angrybear let me off too easy […]