Category Archives: Uncategorized

Timothy Noah published an interesting series on income inequality in Slate last month. Since about 1980 there has been a huge change in income inequality so that now the top 10% earn 50% of all income in the U.S.  The … Continue reading →

This one by Edward Luce in the Financial Times, summarized by Brad deLong here. A quote from the full article in the Financial Times: “Either the Republican Party believes what it is saying, in which case it has no further … Continue reading →

I don’t have time to do this right, but here is the link. I’ll flesh this out in a day or two.  Here is the bottom line:

Short answer: No Howard Gleckman of the Tax Policy Center posted this analysis of how one might balance the budget by 2020, given the permanent extension of Bush’s tax cuts.  This is to be accomplished by making vague spending cuts … Continue reading →

I couldn’t resist using the original title — David Cay Johnston of Tax.com has done a thorough and scathing analysis of the results of Bush 43’s two tax cuts.  His conclusions — “The tax cuts did not spur investment. Job … Continue reading →

A few days ago, Allen Edwards posted on Facebook this thought-provoking comment: “If you took $10,000 to invest 50 years ago, and followed the pattern of investing in the S&P 500 during GOP presidencies, and at 5% in bonds & … Continue reading →

Here is a chart (via Krugman) compiled yearly of what business people consider their biggest problem.  Note that since 2009 sales is the largest problem by a significant margin.  This is why they aren’t hiring — not uncertainty.

More evidence that Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac were not drivers of the housing bubble.  Here is a graph from the conservator’s report: It says that Fannie and Freddie were, for the most part, on the sidelines during the peak … Continue reading →

Earlier this year, Rep. Paul Ryan (R) presented a fiscal roadmap for Republicans that he claimed would cut the deficit in half by 2020.  At his request,  the CBO analyzed a version of the  plan and agreed that the version … Continue reading →