By Noni Mausa Let’s Play “You Be The Sucker!” Let’s see. Business and banks have heaps of money – and aren’t hiring, spending their money, or loaning it out. Meanwhile, a few million working-age Americans have no money and no work, and many are young, strong, highly trained and capable. Business is complaining that they […]
by Noni MausaThe Mordant Litmus of Texas? The other day I was listening to a fascinating interview on US executions. “So far this year, 5 convicted criminals felt the executioner’sneedle. Michael Graczyk watched as they took their last breath. Thereporter from the Associated Press has witnessed more than 300executions. It’s believed he’s seen more men and […]
by Mike Kimel Why Economists (On Average) are Terrible Forecasters My colleague, Rebecca Wilder, had a post at her site entitled Economists are terrible forecasters – why trust them anyway?. The reason why economists as a general rule are lousy forecasters is obvious: there are no penalties to being wildly wrong. Prominent examples abound. Dow […]
by Tom aka Rusty Rustbelt The Pain of Economic Change Michigan is the only state in the union showing a net negative population trend in the recent census report, and is an interesting case study of the pain of economic change. For several decades after WWII, Michigan enjoyed above average prosperity on the backs of […]
by Noni Mausa The trace elements of a nation from her blog Tunnel Under Snow A long discussion over on Angry Bear dealt with how economic choices, rational in the short term or in the service of one economic actor, can cumulatively cripple the societies in which these choices are made. Well worth hopping over […]
by Linda Bealecrossposted with Ataxingmatter Dealing with the Sunset of the Bush Tax Cuts (Part IV in a series)–the Tax Relief Coalition The Tax Relief Coalition–another of the myriad anti-tax groups comprised of Grover Norquist’s group and those of similar ideology–is at it again with a letter to Congress (available on BNA) urging the passage […]
by Linda Beale A quote from Amartya Sen, and my New Year’s Tax Resolutions (for Congress and the Obama Administration) The time between December 30 and January 4 seems to be filled with lists. Along with the ever-present list of “to dos” that haven’t been done and still are hanging around waiting for our attention, […]
by Linda Beale A Year and Counting: re-regulation of Wall Street On Monday night, I participated in a symposium on the Financial Crisis: One Year Later, sponsored by the Center for the Study of Citizenship and others. With me were Larry Ingrassia, Business Editor of the New York Times, and Chip Dickson, CFO of W2Freedom, […]
by divorced one like Bush Come on, step right up, don’t be afraid. Lay that money down. 3 and 1/8 economist out of 4 say the dastardly deed is done or ending by next month. After months of uncertainty, economists are finally seeing a break in the clouds. Forecasts were revised upward for every period, […]
rdan (Re-printed with permission from the author, James Taylor, and David Zetland from The Great Recession Conspiracy)