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

More on the Threat to Social Security and Medicare from the so-called "Fiscal Cliff"

by Linda Beale More on the Threat to Social Security and Medicare from the so-called “Fiscal Cliff” In several posts recently I have discussed the harmful demands the right is engaging in related to the so-called “fiscal cliff” created by the original Bush tax cuts (set to sunset en masse), the artificial debt ceiling (used […]

What the Fiscal Cliff Means for the Middle Class

by Kenneth Thomas What the Fiscal Cliff Means for the Middle Class Now that the election is over, it seems like all the politicians and pundits can talk about is the so-called “fiscal cliff.” But the chatter around the fiscal cliff is deeply weird, so in this post I will explain what it is and […]

After selling the election

In a previous post Fiscal cliff and the frenzy  I pointed to the rush of reporting the day after the election. Some of these articles should be in the op-ed section instead of reporting. Lori Montgomery “Avoiding hard decisions could have grave consequences, analysts say…”         …  Few expect Washington to replicate the […]

Elites Demanding Austerity Also Ignored Housing Bubble

Dean Baker writes to the question of who is pushing the fiscal cliff idea: Elites Demanding Austerity Also Ignored Housing Bubble … it was somewhat shocking to see a book review in The New York Times by Noam Scheiber, an editor at The New Republic, that longed for the day when we will have people […]

Calling all Americans: we face an "austerity crisis" not a fiscal "cliff”

by Linda Beale Calling all Americans: we face an “austerity crisis” not a fiscal “cliff”; we need a piecemeal solution, not a “grand bargain” Keynesian economic theory is the only theory that has gotten much of what’s gone on in the last few decades correct, but of course the GOP market fundamentalists, in reliance on […]

Is it a fiscal cliff or merely a bump in the road?

by Linda Beale Is it a fiscal cliff or merely a bump in the road? Sixty percent of American voters in exit polls indicated that they supported higher taxes for the wealthy, see here.  Even some arch conservatives are acknowledging that some tax increases won’t do terrible harm.  Id. (noting that the Wall Street Journal’s […]

Fiscal cliff and the frenzy

Via Business Insider, Joe Weisenthal offers a look at the explosion of media covering the notion of ‘fiscal cliff’. I was going to list representative links but gave up…I leave it to readers to supply their own sources for this post. The issue has been framed as mostly an ideological and partisan battle, with a […]

Will the Reign of Witches end January 1st?

by run75441 Will the Reign of Witches end January 1st?(hat tip to Maggie Mahar at Health Beat blog) A little patience,” Jefferson wrote, “and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolved, and the people recovering their true sight, restoring their government to its true principles. It is true, that in […]