Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Because He Would Never Name N. Gregory Mankiw or R. Glenn Hubbard as Arsonists Screaming for a Fire Hose

Go read Mark Thoma. Because he’s a kinder, gentler human being than I am: The time to stand up to the budget busting was when it happened, and when members of the list had the power to affect policy, not many years later in an article at Politico. Many on the list were either part […]

GOP deficit-reduction hype used in ideological "values" war?

by Linda Beale GOP deficit-reduction hype used in ideological “values” war?crossposted with Ataxingmatter There is concerted effort to portray Social Security as ruining the country by being a significant cause of the current deficit , and this is not accidental.  Social Security has been funded by payroll taxes that are supposed to be dedicated to […]

Cousin Brucie Bartlett Explains It All to You

In the context of Dan’s post below, I just want to repeat what Bruce Bartlett said so accurately yesterday: [H]ere’s what I would be doing if I were organizing opposition to the Republican budgetary disinformation campaign. First of all, I would be holding hearings five days a week in the Senate Appropriations Committee and every […]

Revisiting the Ryan Roadmap: Tax Freedom for Billionaires

The Ryan Roadmap was introduced and then dropped into obscurity as Republicans simply ignored it and appararantly its author, the House Budget Committee Ranking Member Paul Ryan. Well that was then, today that is CHAIRMAN Paul Ryan and the official respondee to the SOTU plus the man who has unilateral control over budget levels this […]

European policy…really?

This week Trichet laid down the ECB’s hand, (effectively) announcing his intention to maintain inflation at the ECB’s target rather than allow it to overshoot. For all intents and purposes, 2% inflation stabilizes the real exchange rate rather than furthering real depreciation in the Periphery and real appreciation in Germany (or the Core). Ambrose Evans-Pritchard […]

CBO Sleight-of-Hand

I’m late to seeing this, and Bruce has probably already covered it, but Doug Elmendorg at the CBO inadvertently gives away the game on the Administration’s approach to—let alone opinion of—the Social Security “Trust Fund”: The balances in trust funds have accrued because income associated with those programs has exceeded the expenses; when that happens, […]

What Once was Naivete is Now Idiocy

Update: Brad DeLong appears to confirm that Obama’s inner circle would be best served by being placed in a circular firing squad, given live ammo, and being told to “do what is right.” The plethora of disingenuous claims that Barack Obama “won” with the McConnell-Obama “compromise” are legend. See, for instance, the idiocy of Andrew […]