Category Archives: Economics

Some Things I’ve Been Reading…

The Cliff Hangs on the Fed: Why Ben Bernanke Controls the Economy’s Fate Ramesh Ponnuru and David Beckworth, The Atlantic, December 12 2012 The authors argue that regardless of any contraction associated with the ‘fiscal cliff’ the Federal Reserve has … Continue reading

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Good Ol’ Kiwi Optimism

It is remarkable that on a day when major news outlets publish articles with the following headlines: Bloomberg: “Euro Era is Coming to an End” Financial Times: “Thinking the unthinkable on a euro breakup“ Financial Times (again): “The eurozone really … Continue reading

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Friedman on Why America Is Falling Behind

Some interesting insights here from Tom Friedman on NBC’s Meet The Press:

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More on Krugman and Bonds

I commented a few days ago on Paul Krugman’s views about the current state of the bond market and mentioned the fact that Pimco has sold all of it’s US government debt, while the Federal Reserve is the largest buyer … Continue reading

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Paul Krugman on the Bond Market

In his latest op-ed in the NY Times, Paul Krugman makes some worthwhile comments about the seriousness of persistent unemployment. However I was struck by this claim – And, for what it’s worth, actual investors — people putting real money … Continue reading

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45% of American’s Pay No Income Tax in 2010

The Miami Herald reported yesterday the results of a nationwide McClatchy-Marist poll showing that American’s are 2-1 in favor of raising taxes on the wealthy. Coincidentally, a number of other news outlets reported yesterday a study by the Tax Policy … Continue reading

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Mark Thoma on Government Debt

I was mildly surprised to read the following reaction today from the University of Oregon’s Mark Thoma (no relation :)) to S&P’s negative outlook for US debt (via Brad DeLong): … it’s important to remember that the US debt is … Continue reading

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The Damage Who Inflicted?

I was struck by this quote from President Obama reported in an MSNBC article today on the President’s budget proposal: “We have more work to do to live up to our promise by repairing the damage this brutal recession has … Continue reading

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Bob Herbert on Poverty

Bob Herbert had an opinion piece in the New York Times last Friday lamenting the Obama administration’s lack of interest in the poor: President Obama is redesigning his administration to make it even friendlier toward big business and the megabanks, … Continue reading

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Grasping Reality

One of several blogs that I follow on a fairly regular basis is Grasping Reality with Both Hands, by Brad DeLong, Professor of Economics at UC Berkeley. The subtitle of his blog is “The Semi-Daily Journal of Economist J. Bradford … Continue reading

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