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

Linda Beale op-ed on the dysfunctional politics of the US economy

by Linda Beale Trillion Dollar Coins, Fourteenth Amendment Powers, Executive Duties versus the Zanies on the Right who Want to Send us to Economic Purgatory: Krugman on the dysfunctional politics of the US economy Paul Krugman appeared on Bill Moyers PBS program Sunday night, talking sanely and rationally about the economy and why jobs (should) […]

The Matrix: The Intersection of War, Economic Theory, and the Economy

Passing along a note from Michael Perelman at Econospeak: The Matrix: The Intersection of War, Economic Theory, and the Economy Vincent Portillo and I are working on a new book, The Matrix: The Intersection of War, Economic Theory, and the Economy. So far it is still remains an exploration rather than a finished research project. […]

Real business fixed investment.

Yesterday I compared real private GDP in cycles. Today I would like to look at  real business fixed investment. If you listened to CNBC — otherwise known as the Republican Propaganda Channel — or the campaign claims you would think that all the uncertainty created by Obama was destroying business confidence and that real business […]

Is Ireland the Poster Child of Growth?

by Rebecca Wilder Is Ireland the Poster Child of Growth? I wanted to familiarize myself with the economic statistics in Ireland, so I thought that I’d share my findings with you all. Many politicians refer to Ireland as the poster child of austerity – according to the contentious thesis of expansionary austerity (a review from the […]

Conflict of Interest

The Wall Street Journal reports: Under new rules adopted by the American Economic Association at its annual meeting here last week, economists will have to disclose financial ties and other potential conflicts of interest in papers published in academic journals. Backers argue such disclosures will help restore faith in the profession by giving both policy makers and […]

What’s a person to do? or ‘motivated avoidance’

What’s a person to do? or ‘Motivated avoidance’  From the American Psychological Association comes two studies here and here. Individuals are often confronted with information that they do not know how to comprehend or evaluate, even though this information can be of critical importance to the self (or society as a whole). In the case […]

This is the reality of a real small business

By Daniel Becker This is a bit of an interlude in my writing regarding the income tax of yore. Though, this does involve taxation. This is also a continuation in my postings regarding real world small business experiences. Yes, you are going to get to read about a real situation that involves a real small […]