Stock options: Lieberman Lobbyists in London and the tax arena “LONDON–European opponents of stock option expensing said June 7 they are stepping up pressure on United Kingdom officials to win last-minute exemptions from the coming use of an international standard to account for employee share and share option plans in Europe.” BNA’s Daily Tax Report […]

Torture Memo Online The WSJ has posted the full 3/6/2003 torture memo (with a redaction or two), “Working Group Report on Detainee Interrogations in The Global War on Terrorism: Assessment of Legal, Historical, Policy, and Operational Considerations.” Warning: it’s a fairly large pdf file. I haven’t had time to read it yet, though I plan […]

News from the G8 on Iraq And not good news either: Nevertheless, U.S. officials acknowledge that their previous goal of drawing in more foreign troops was all but gone. Bush’s national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, said the hope now was that the new resolution would persuade those countries with troops already in Iraq to “stay […]

I’m Back Did anything interesting or newsworthy happen while I was gone? AB P.S. Kidding aside, I’m still loaded with catch-up work for the next few days, so hopefully I can impose upon PGL to continue filling in for a bit. Kash is due back later this week, too.

The Neoconomists Daniel Altman certainly has a catchy title to promote his upcoming book and I like the topic: Hubbard and Lindsey saw cutting taxes on savings and wealth as a recipe for faster growth. Their plans were consistent with supply-side economics, which had dominated Republican policy for decades, since they targeted the economy’s long-run […]

Rising Tide and Dooh Nibor Economics Two interesting pieces on income inequality in the U.S.: First – “A Rising Tide that Lifts Only Yachts” by Bernard Wasow of The Century Foundation documents the growing disparity between income and wealth for the rich versus the poor in the U.S. from 1981 to 2000. Since his data […]

Reagan may replace Hamilton on the $10 bill NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – Ronald Reagan’s face could one day adorn the $10 bill or half the dimes minted in the country, if fans of the late president get their way. In a sad way, this may be fitting. After all, Treas. Sec. Hamilton served a President […]

Lord Stanley hits the beach; Larry Brown goes Hollywood Congratulations to the Tampa Bay Lightning on winning the Stanley Cup! I really thought the Calgary Flames would take game 6 of the NHL playoffs but the Lightning found a way of beating the Flames in OT and then played a great game to win it […]

Moore’s Idol Worship of Reaganomics Stephen Moore has dusted off some of his silliest claims in his NRO salute to Reagan: Reagan was truly blessed by the incompetence of his predecessors. The cumulative policies of LBJ, Nixon, Ford, and Carter had atrophied America’s economic muscle. Their legacy was big bureaucratic government expansionism, easy money, soaring […]

Needed: Abu Ghraib Special Prosecutor WIDE GAPS SEEN IN U.S. INQUIRIES ON PRISON ABUSE by STEVEN LEE MYERS and ERIC SCHMITT, June 6, 2004, The New York Times begins: Disparate inquiries into abuses of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan have so far left crucial questions of policy and operations unexamined, according to lawmakers from both […]